It Happened One Night
by hopefuldreamer007
Summary: When the unthinkable happens to Bayley, the other three horsewomen try to help her pick up the pieces.
1. Chapter 1

Title: It Happened One Night

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

Summary: When one of the girls faces the unthinkable, the other three horsewomen try to help her through it.

Rating: M, but only because of the first few chapters dealing with dark content (This story deals with rape, so please be forewarned).

Chapter One:

She should have gone with Sasha.

She walked around the empty arena, thinking of all of the amazing memories that had taken place in this exact place so many times before. Her match back in 2015 with Sasha where she won the NXT women's championship, her match again in 2016 with Asuka, the match that would be her final match in NXT, her main roster debut that following Monday….

Life had a funny way of always coming full circle. Tonight had been another milestone in the exact same arena that had held all of those other miracle milestones in her career. Tonight she had main evented a PPV for the very first time.

Bayley couldn't help the smile that graced her lips at the thought of what she had done tonight in this magical arena; the crowd going wild, everybody coming to see her in the main event, the magic that had taken place in the center of that ring tonight….all of it had just led to this bubbling excitement inside of her that she wasn't sure she ever wanted to go away.

And so she had stayed behind, wanting to walk the halls of the arena and reflect on all of the magic. Now, though, as she walked the empty arena with only a few lights still on, she realized that her earlier decision to stay behind had not been her brightest, and so she was eager to get out of here.

She reached for her phone as she headed towards the exit of the arena, hoping to call an Uber and catch up with Sasha back at the hotel. The girls were sharing a room together tonight, which knowing Sasha, meant that she was most likely waiting up for Bayley to make sure she made it home safe. Sasha could be such a mom sometimes, and she was the youngest of the two. Of course, Bayley knew that nobody did the job of mom better than Charlotte, who drove Bayley, Becky, and Sasha insane on a daily basis with her mom mode, as they all so kindly nicknamed it.

"Did you get forgotten about or something?"

Bayley screamed at the sound of the unexpected voice, jumping nearly a foot as she looked around for whoever had spoken to her. Her eyes immediately fell upon a hooded Dave Bautista standing just a few feet away from her.

"What are you still doing here? The show ended hours ago," stated Bayley, her heart still pounding out of her chest. Dave shrugged, stepping just an inch closer to Bayley.

"I could ask you the same question," he commented, Bayley eyeing him closely as he continued to slowly step closer to her.

"I'm just leaving now. I'm waiting for an Uber."

Dave nodded, shrugging as he looked out into the night. "I could give you a ride. Save you the trouble."

Bayley offered a smile to the older man, shaking her head. "That's okay. Thank you though, for the offer," she replied politely, returning her attention to her phone. The uber was still ten minutes away.

"Come on, you're one of those fresh new talents that I haven't really spent much time with recently," said Dave, Bayley beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable as she watched Dave stare at her.

"I've been on the main roster for three years now," she responded, Dave nodding in agreement.

"Well, I haven't really been around. I'm here tonight, you know, and I watched that killer match you just put on, and I'd love to talk to you more about it…."

Dave continued to approach Bayley, quickly encroaching on her personal space. Bayley sighed, stepping away. "I told you I'm not interested in a ride. Please leave me alone," whispered Bayley, now avoiding eye contact as she became visibly more uncomfortable, something inside of her telling her that she needed to get away.

"What? You're Bayley, right? The huggable one? The loveable one? Isn't that you're thing?" asked Dave, refusing to back down.

"Dave, I'm getting really uncomfortable. Please leave," asked Bayley, staring at her phone, wishing the uber would just appear in front of her. She thought about calling Sasha. Maybe that would deter him from continuing to talk to her.

"What? With me? Why?" he asked, refusing to back down. He stepped closer to her again, Bayley trying to keep calm. Something was not right. He wasn't leaving. Something inside of her was telling her that this was not good. She had to do something.

"I have a phone call to make," she declared, reaching again for her phone. This time though, Dave grabbed it, his facial expression changing nearly instantly.

"What the hell is wrong with you? I offered to give you a ride home. I told you I wanted to get to know you. And all you wanna do is play on your damn phone," stated Dave, his voice booming over her, though he wasn't quite yelling. Bayley could feel her breathing quicken at the thought that she no longer had her phone.

"I just….I just want to get back to my hotel," said Bayley, furthering herself from Dave. "This isn't okay, Dave. Please leave. You're starting to scare me," whispered Bayley, wrapping her arms around her. Where the hell was this Uber? Why had she decided to stay here alone?

"Scare you? Baby, I'm just here to get to know you," he replied, reaching out, touching her arm. Bayley shook her head, swallowing hard. She didn't have her phone. She couldn't call the police. She couldn't call anybody. She was defenseless.

"Dave, I-

"If you tell me you don't want to, I'm just gonna make you, so you might as well give up the kid act and give me what I want," said Dave, interrupting her. He stared at her phone, noticing the screen was still on.

"Oops, looks like I just cancelled your Uber," he replied, smirking. Bayley swallowed hard, hating that she could feel tears pricking at her eyes.

"Please, please just go. I- I won't tell anybody, just give me my phone and go away, please," she begged, turning to run if things went sour. She wasn't sure how far she'd get on foot, but she figured she could at least get to the nearest gas station or something.

"I don't think so, princess. I came here tonight to see the main event live and in action, and I'm not leaving until I see it."

Bayley screamed, forgetting about her phone as she took off running. She felt him grab her from behind, dragging her back towards the arena. She grunted, trying to use her feet to kick him or hit him. He grunted as she managed to connect with his legs, screaming again when he managed to lift her into his arms. He had over 100 pounds on her. His sheer strength was no match for her.

"Please, please, let me go!" she cried, continuing to fight as he shoved her into the car, climbing in after her.

"We could have done this the easy way. You could have had some fun tonight, but apparently you like doing it this way instead," he replied, climbing on top of her, pinning her arms above her head. She tried to move, but their was hardly any room in the backseat of the car and his entire body was currently pinning her down. So she did the only thing she could think to do to fight; she spit on him.

"You _bitch_," he growled, his fist striking her across her face. Bayley screamed out in pain, trying desperately to get away, but he continued to pin her down, her head smashed up against the door, her arms trapped with just one of his hands.

He quickly unbuttoned his own pants, tossing them off effortlessly. Bayley tried to squirm, tried to reach for the door, anything to get out of this situation, but every effort she made was blocked.

"Please, please, don't do this," she begged, tears now pouring from her eyes as he managed to get her pants off of her. She tried again to kick him, groaning when he he jammed her knee into her stomach, knocking the wind right out of her.

Bayley squeezed her eyes shut as he continued his assault, turning her head away as his lips tried to connect with hers, refusing to do nothing.

"Stop fighting this, or I swear you'll regret it," he growled, licking her neck, breathing heavily.

"No, please, please stop," she begged, refusing to give up. Bayley let out another scream as she felt something strike across her torso, another strike across her now completely exposed breasts.

Bayley felt him shoving himself inside of her, her mind screaming in pain and agony. She closed her eyes again, knowing there was no escape now. She tried to think of something, anything else, wanting to die as he continued to violate her in every humanly way possible.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything hurt.

She stood in front of her hotel, not even sure how she got there. Had _he _driven her? Did he know where she was? Was he staying here too?

Everything just felt so blurry. He was on top of her, inside of her, kissing her. She had wanted him to stop. She had begged him to stop. She told him it hurt, and he had laughed. Now she was standing in front of her hotel, with her clothes still torn from when he had forced them off her body.

Hot tears streamed down her face, the young brunette holding her sweater closer to her body as she tried to figure out what to do. She had to go back to her room. She had to get away. What if someone saw her? What if he was still around? What if someone else tried to do it?

Bayley could feel her breathing slipping out of her control, her heart pounding through her chest. She took a step towards the door, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to make it inside the hotel. Everything hurt. Her head was spinning. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Two more steps. Then a third. Finally, she was inside the lobby of the hotel. She could feel the earth spinning in circles, her mind racing with everything that had just occurred. Why could she not remember how she got here? Her breathing was quickly deteriorating, her heart still pounding. She was on the verge of a full blown panic attack, if she wasn't already having one. All she had to do was get to her room...get to safety.

Safety. She didn't feel safe. She hadn't been safe. She never should have stayed behind at the arena. She should have stuck with Sasha. She should have asked a friend to stay with her. This was all her fault. She should have known better.

Somehow she found herself standing in front of the elevators. She didn't even remember walking to them. She pressed the button. What floor was she on? She fingered the room key in her pocket, staring at it as the elevator doors opened. 524. The fifth floor. She stepped in. It was empty. She was alone. Again.

She jammed her finger on the number five, leaning against the walls of the elevator for support. She felt lightheaded. She felt like her knees were going to give out any second. She just wanted to get to her room.

The elevator rang. The door opened. She stepped out. _Almost there. She was almost there. _She swallowed hard, her mind focused on just making it to her room. 514. 516. 518. Why was it so far away? She stopped, leaning against the wall for support. Everything hurt. Her body was screaming in agonizing pain. _Keep moving. _520\. 522. 524. _Finally. _

She reached again for her room key, her hands feeling slippery. She held it up to the lock, her eyes glancing around to make sure nobody was around, to make sure that nobody could get her.

She held back a sob as the door unlocked, Bayley nearly shoving her body through the door, quickly closing it behind her, throwing the deadbolt latch over it. _Safe. She was safe now. Nobody could get her in here._ Right?

Bayley wasn't sure that she would ever feel truly safe again. Even in her own hotel room.

And just like that the memories of the night came flooding back through her mind. His hands roaming her body, squeezing her breasts. His tongue roaming her body. His body pinning her down, rendering her unable to escape.

Bayley couldn't hold it in any longer. She felt herself sliding to the floor, curling her knees to her chest as she began openly sobbing; harsh, painful sobs mixing with the anxiety and fear that had built up inside of her over the last few hours.

"Bayley?"

The voice quickly snapped Bayley out of her anguish, the young girl screaming at the sound of another voice in the room. Was he here? Had he found her again?

"Bayley? Bayley, what's wrong? Bayley, what is it?"

Suddenly the room went from dark to bright, Bayley shoving herself away from the figure now looming above her.

"No! Stop! Please, stop!"

"Bayley! It's me, it's Sasha. Honey, look at me."

Sasha. It was Sasha. She was in the room. They were sharing a room. It was only Sasha. She would never hurt her. Sasha would never hurt her.

"Bayley? Can you hear me?"

Sasha's voice was softer now, her hand gently touching Bayley's knee. "Bay, can you look at me, honey? Please?"

Bayley choked on her own sobs, slowly unburying her face from her knees, her eyes meeting her friend's for the first time, a look of pure concern etched in Sasha's eyes.

"Sash?"

Her voice was weak, weaker than she wanted it to sound. Tears were still pouring down her face, Sasha's hand gently reaching for her cheek.

"Bayley, what happened? Honey, your eye is swollen. What happened?"

He had hit her. She spit on him and he had smashed his fist into her face. He must have given her a nice bruise if it was already swollen enough that Sasha noticed.

Bayley tried to speak, but her words were replaced with broken sobs. Sasha wasted no time pulling her friend into her arms, Bayley wrapping her arms around Sasha's neck, letting loose every emotion that she was feeling.

"I'm here. I'm right here. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay, alright?"

Bayley again choked on her sobs, her chest once more tightening up as she struggled once more to breathe. She could feel Sasha's hand running up and down her back, the younger woman whispering soothing words that Bayley couldn't quite catch, into her ear.

"Just breathe, babygirl. Nice and slow. Try and catch your breath."

Bayley's fists curled into Sasha's shirt, making Bayley feel even more weak and pathetic. Sasha gently tightened her grip on her friend, pulling them both up onto their feet, swinging Bayley into her arms.

She gently eased her upset friend onto the bed she'd been asleep in only moments earlier, lowering herself so that she was still eye level with Bayley.

"Try and breathe, okay? Nice and slow," she coached, keeping one hand on her friend's cheek, never breaking her gaze as she continued to work on getting Bayley to breathe correctly again.

"Good girl. That's a girl. Keep going," she whispered, her hand reaching back and stroking her friend's hair. "Good. Good job, sweet girl."

Bayley could feel her heart slowing down, her breathing going back to normal. She wrapped her arms once more around Sasha's neck, wanting to feel her friend's gentle touch; wanting to forget about how she had been touched earlier in the evening.

"Bayley, what happened? What happened to your eye? What is going on?" asked Sasha, pulling her friend into her lap.

She wanted to tell her. She wanted to tell Sasha what had happened, but the words were screaming inside of her, only bringing back the awful memories of the evening. If she said it, if she told Sasha, it would make it real. She would be forced to relive it. She would be forced to hear the horrible, terrible, truth, out loud.

"Bayley, talk to me. Tell me what happened," begged Sasha, placing a kiss to her friend's hair.

"I-I-I

The words refused to leave her mouth, sobs once more overtaking her body. Sasha, not wanting to see her friend have another panic attack, quickly took over, gently holding her even closer to her.

"It's okay. Take your time, okay? Tell me when you're ready. I'm not going anywhere, Bay. I'm not going anywhere," assured Sasha, gently rocking her friend.

A/N: Thank you to those of you who have favorited or followed this story! Hope you enjoyed this next chapter. Leave a review, if you can! And please keep following the story for more updates!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

Sasha sat at the edge of the bed, her hands reaching out to gently stroke her friend's hair. Bayley had been up almost the entire night, nightmares plaguing what little sleep she had tried to find. She still struggled to tell Sasha what had happened, her words getting lost in a sea of sobs and panic attacks. It was breaking Sasha's heart.

The sound of her phone going off snapped the young woman out of her thoughts, Sasha glancing at it briefly. Charlotte and Becky looking to come up and grab breakfast together before the show. _Crap._

Sasha sighed as she once more looked at Bayley, not wanting to wake her friend up. She was never a morning person to begin with, but she had hardly slept at all last night and she feared that waking her up would just send her into a panic again. Over whatever it was that had happened last night.

"Oh, Bay….I wish you would tell me what happened," muttered Sasha out loud, running her hand through Bayley's hair once more, thankful that she was at least sleeping peacefully for the moment.

The sound of knocking on the door snapped her out of her thoughts once more. Becky and Charlotte were there. _Shit. I thought I had more time. _

Sasha looked at Bayley, worried that the knocking would wake her up. It didn't. The poor girl must have been just utterly exhausted.

Sasha stepped away, hurrying to the door before they knocked again and it did wake Bayley up. She stepped outside before they could get inside.

"Dude, what's going on? You don't respond to a text, then you don't answer the door, and now you won't let us in? What gives?"

"I wish I knew," said Sasha, running her hand through her hair.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" asked Charlotte, frowning as Sasha let out a deep sigh, glancing into the room.

"Something happened last night...with Bayley. I- I don't know what, but she came back so upset and just crying and having panic attacks and….her eye is swollen and her sweater was ripped. I don't know if she got in a fight with someone or what but….she hardly slept at all last night," rambled Sasha, concern etched into every word she spoke as she thought about just how frightened Bayley had been when she got back. The possibilities of what had happened were endless...and none of the ones running through Sasha's mind were good.

"Holy shit," whispered Becky, staring at the door to the hotel room, just wanting to go in and comfort one of her good friends.

"I don't know what's going on, but she hasn't even really talked to me about it. I tried to get her to tell me what happened but she was too upset last night to really talk."

"Do you mind if we come in?" asked Becky, anxious just to see her friend for herself. Sasha nodded, opening the door as she allowed both Charlotte and Becky to enter the room. Sasha walked over to the bed, the other two staying behind. Neither of them wanted to scare Bayley more if she wasn't expecting to see them.

Sasha knelt down next to the bed, gently reaching out and touching Bayley's hair, keeping her lips closer to her friend's ear.

"Bayley? Honey, time to wake up," whispered Sasha, gently shaking her shoulder.

Bayley groaned, rolling over as Sasha attempted to wake her up.

"Maybe we should let her sleep….poor girl probably needs the rest," muttered Charlotte, wanting so badly to hold her friend. She hated the idea of something happening to Bayley, of all people. The one person who wouldn't hurt a fly.

Sasha sighed, attempting to wake her up once more. "Come on, Bay….just open your eyes, honey. You have to wake up," whispered Sasha, keeping her voice close to her friend's ear.

Bayley stirred again, pulling the blanket tighter around her as she slowly opened her eyes, Sasha greeting her with a gentle smile as Bayley's gaze caught her own.

"Hey, you. How you feeling?" asked Sasha, her finger gently tracing over the now completely swollen eye on Bayley. Bayley whimpered, the events of the previous night slowly coming back to her, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she thought about his hands, his words, the way he smelled...his body on top of her and inside of her…..

Bayley screamed as every image flooded through her mind, the brunette instantly throwing herself into Sasha's arms as she began to sob. Sasha sighed as she shared a glance with Charlotte and Becky, both who had tears in their own eyes at the sight of Bayley so distraught. She had had the night of her life last night, one of her biggest dreams coming true. She had been so happy and it was just the most magical sight for them all to see. It broke their hearts to know that something so horrible had happened just hours later that seemingly destroyed her.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. It's alright. You're safe, Bayley. You're safe here, honey. Nothing can hurt you in here, okay?" whispered Sasha, gently rubbing her hand up and down Bayley's back, rocking her in her arms as the young girl cried.

"I should have gone home with you last night. I-I shouldn't have stayed," moaned Bayley, tightening her fingers around her friend's shirt.

"Bayls? Becca and I are here too, hun. Sasha let us in," whispered Charlotte, unable to stay quiet any longer as she cried. She didn't want Bayley to get scared when she did finally realize they were in the room.

The young girl either didn't care or was too upset to care, instead just continuing to cry in Sasha's arms.

"Bayley, can you tell us what happened? Please?" whispered Sasha, continuing to run her hand down her friend's hair and back. Bayley choked on her sobs, just wishing she could disappear just at the thought of what she had gone through.

"Bay? Honey, you know you can tell us anything, right? You know you can always tell us anything," whispered Becky, speaking up for the first time.

Bayley turned herself slightly, eyeing both Charlotte and Becky for the first time, still staying in Sasha's arms.

"Hey pretty girl, what's going on?" asked Becky, reaching out to touch Bayley's cheek. "What's got you so upset today, honey?"

Bayley lowered her gaze, her fingers reaching out for Sasha's hand, holding them in her own hands as she thought about the events of last night.

"It was my fault," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, filled with tears. She whimpered again as she thought about everything running through her mind, Sasha placing a kiss to her hair, not wanting her to stop talking, but wanting to give her all the comfort she could.

"I-I should have come-come back with Sasha. I-I shou-should have known better," stuttered Bayley, panic beginning to rise through her gut, tears forming once more in her eyes.

"Bayley, what happened? Did someone approach you? A fan, or something?"

Bayley shook her head, more tears running down her face as she held back a sob. She wanted, she needed, to get this out. It felt like it was eating her alive from the inside out. She needed to tell someone. She needed to get it out of the inside of her. She needed to get _him_ out of her.

"I-I said no! I -I, he came, he came up to me, and I-I told him that I didn't need a ride and-and he-he would-wouldn't le-leave me a-a-alone," she moaned, her entire body shaking and trembling as she relived the details. Sasha closed her eyes, a bad feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach as she listened to Bayley speak.

Charlotte and Becky looked on, horror setting in as they thought about the unthinkable. There was no way. No way. They couldn't even fathom the idea that- that someone would do that to Bayley.

"Bayley," stated Becky, her voice trying to stay calm as she reached out to her friend, gently lifting her gaze to meet her own. Bayley was sobbing now, tears pouring from her eyes as she met Becky's gaze. The redheaded woman's heart broke at the sight of her friend's misery.

"I begged him to stop, Becca! I begged him to stop! I didn't want to! And it hurt so bad and-and-and-"

She couldn't handle it anymore, breaking down into sobs, nearly doubling over in Sasha's arms. Both Charlotte and Becky scooted closer. Sasha brought her closer to her, her entire body now touching Bayley,

"Bayley," said Becky, closing her eyes as she thought about what they were almost certain had happened, swallowing hard as tears formed in her own eyes. "Bayley, did someone…..did someone….rape you?"


	4. Chapter 4

Bayley could feel her breathing intensify as soon as the words left Becky's mouth, her entire word starting to spin. Her sobs, coupled with her anxiety, left her unable to breathe or speak, her entire body shaking in Sasha's arms.

"Bayley? Bayley, honey, slow down. Take a breath."

Bayley could hear the voices of her friends' surrounding her. She could feel Sasha's arms wrapped around her, but it all just felt so….unattached. She couldn't grasp the feel of her own body or what was going on around her. Everything was spinning faster and faster...

And before she even had time to process it….before she could stop it or make a run for it….it happened.

And she felt herself getting sick all over herself.

"Oh, Bayley, honey…."

Charlotte stepped into the small huddle going on, instantly going into "mom mode" as the girls liked to call it. Becky ran into the bathroom, grabbing wash clothes and towels, whatever she could find….

Sasha kept Bayley in her arms, the young woman's body completely shutting down on them, terrifying both Charlotte and Sasha as they watched it happen.

"Come on, baby, look at me. Look at my eyes," whispered Charlotte, forcing Bayley's gaze onto her own. "Breathe for me, okay? Take a big deep breath, Bayley," whispered Charlotte, modeling it for her anxiety ridden friend, Bayley's gaze extremely unfocused, her brown eyes barely wide and dilated as Charlotte spoke.

Bayley moaned, trying to mimic Charlotte's breathing; Sasha doing the breathing techniques, knowing how close Bayley's body was to her own. She could still feel her trembling wildly.

"Keep going Bayley, keep going…." coached Charlotte, keeping Bayley's gaze focused on her own. Charlotte very gently placed her hand on her friend's hair, stroking her sweat soaked hair back in a soothing motion.

"Good girl. Good girl, keep breathing, just like that…"

Bayley nodded as her breathing slowly went back to normal, her eyes becoming less wide...

"Bayley? You with me?" asked Charlotte; her friend's face far too pale, her body practically limp in Sasha's arms.

Bayley nodded weakly, moaning as Becky handed Charlotte a wet washcloth, the tall blonde running it over her friend's face, wiping at the vomit surrounding her mouth.

"I'm sorry," moaned Bayley, tears filling her brown eyes once more, a few slipping as they fell down her cheeks.

Charlotte shook her head, gently placing a hand on her friend's still too pale face, sighing. "Baby, you didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything wrong. It's not your fault," whispered Charlotte, frowning as she realized the poor girl was still covered in her own vomit.

"Sweetheart, we need to get you cleaned up, okay? Do you think you can hop in the shower?" asked Charlotte, Bayley nodding slowly.

Sasha unwrapped her arms from around Bayley, easing herself up before helping Charlotte get Bayley to her feet. Bayley stumbled as she got to her feet, still feeling slightly lightheaded.

"Come on, honey. Let's get you cleaned up, okay? You want me to come in there with you?" asked Sasha, not surprised when Bayley nodded her head, allowing Sasha to help her into the bathroom.

Becky and Charlotte shared a glance with each other, waiting until Sasha got the bathroom door closed and they heard the water running before saying a word. Becky grabbed a couple of the towels, making a mental note to call down to get some more before Bayley got out of the shower. She quickly got to work on trying to clean up some of the vomit that had gotten onto the floor.

"Who would….how….why…."

Charlotte couldn't even get the words out of her mouth as she fell onto the bed,

Becky leaning against the other bed in the room.

"What are we gonna do, Char? What….what is there that we can do right now for her? I don't even….how is she going to…."

Becky drew her knees up to her chest, closing her eyes. She couldn't even fathom what was running through Bayley's mind right now. The poor girl hadn't even been through hell….she was living out every woman's worst nightmare.

"I just want to know who. I want to find out who it was and I want to make them suffer a long, painful, agonizing death. And then I want to bring them back to life just to do it all over again," muttered Charlotte, Becky raising her eyebrows at her friend's rather descriptive plan for whoever did this to Bayley.

"What? You don't want to do the same thing?" asked Charlotte, drawing a small smile from the red headed Irish woman.

"I didn't say that," replied Becky, letting out a long, drawn out, sigh. "We need to be there for Bayley first, though. We need to be there to help her through this because….experiencing it is one thing, but living through it? I can't imagine that's any easier in this situation. Wouldn't surprise me if it's worse, even," said Becky, dragging her teeth along her bottom lip.

Charlotte went to respond, both girls nearly jumping out of the skin when they heard a terrifying scream come from the bathroom.

* * *

Sasha sighed as she closed the door to the bathroom, one arm still holding onto Bayley. She turned to face her friend, frowning when she saw her head bent down, her body still trembling.

"It's okay, Bay. It's just you and I, alright, sweetheart? We're just gonna get you cleaned up, sweetgirl," whispered Sasha, running her hand down her friend's arm.

Sasha led her over to the toilet, making sure the cover was down before settling Bayley down onto it, dropping to her knees in front of her distraught friend.

"We gotta get these clothes off of you, honey. Is that alright?" asked Sasha, reaching her hand up to Bayley's hair, gently brushing it back.

Bayley whimpered, her breath catching as she thought about the idea of removing her clothes again. "Shh, shh, it's okay, Bayley. It's just me, remember? It's only me," whispered Sasha, gently reaching for Bayley's torn sweater, sighing as her friend started to tense up.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, baby. These clothes are covered in vomit, though. We need to get them off so that you can get cleaned up. Do you want to take them off yourself or do you want me to help?" asked Sasha, Bayley wiping at her eyes as her friend spoke.

She didn't respond to Sasha's question, Sasha placing a kiss to her hair. "Okay, let's start with the sweater okay?" whispered Sasha, Bayley nodding slowly, whimpering as she felt the torn sweater leave her body. She tried to tell herself that this was different, that it was just her and Sasha, that she needed to get cleaned up, but nothing was working... all she felt was _him_.

Sasha continued to work on helping Bayley with her clothes, whispering soft, soothing words of comfort as she did so. Bayley's body stayed tensed up, her head barely even looking up at Sasha, tears still falling from her eyes.

Sasha stood up as she finished getting Bayley's clothing off of her, her friend instinctively wrapping her arms around her now bare body. She placed another kiss to Bayley's hair, leaning over to the shower to turn it on and run the water, waiting until she felt the temperature was perfect before turning back to Bayley.

"Baylz, you think you can get into the shower, sweetheart? A warm shower might help you feel a little bit better," coaxed Sasha, gently helping Bayley to her feet, watching as her friend shrunk into herself, squeezing her eyes shut as she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

Bayley whimpered as she got into the shower, a fresh batch of tears brimming in her eyes. She could feel the anxiety creeping up once more as the water hit her skin, Bayley flinching away from it.

Sasha sighed, sitting at the edge of the shower, not caring that she was getting wet as well. She couldn't imagine what Bayley was going through. She couldn't imagine what she was feeling. What happened to her less than 24 hours earlier was an unimaginable kind of nightmare, and it broke Sasha's heart that it had happened at all.

"Just relax, Bay….try and relax, honey. Let the water just rinse you off," whispered Sasha, chewing on her bottom lip as Bayley continued to struggle.

"I'm right here. You're okay," she whispered, Bayley nodding as she tried to not panic inside the shower.

But everytime the water touched her skin, she felt _him._ She felt his body pinning her down, his breath on her neck, his hands roaming her skin, touching her _everywhere._

"Bayley? Bayley, you okay, sweetie?"

Bayley shook her head, her stomaching tightening up once more. She could feel her breathing intensify again, her entire body starting to shake. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to get away from the water that was touching her everywhere, just like he had the night before…. She shrunk down into the corner of the tub, curling her arms around her knees….

"Bayley!"

Sasha scooted over to the corner where her friend was currently cowering, reaching out to touch her.

And the second Bayley felt a hand reaching for her, she screamed.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews for this story so far! Hope you enjoy the next chapter and please continue to review with your thoughts!


	5. Chapter 5

"What happened?!"

Charlotte and Becky raced into the bathroom, their eyes widening as they saw Bayley still in the shower, cowering in the corner as Sasha tried to get her to let her help.

"Oh, Bayley, what's wrong, honey?" asked Becky, sitting down next to Sasha.

Bayley sobbed into her arms, choking on her tears, her body shivering from the water some, but mostly from crying. Sasha glanced over at Charlotte and Becky before returning her attention to Bayley, easing herself into the shower, Becky reaching up to turn the water that was still running, off.

"Shh, shh, shh," whispered Sasha, wrapping her arms around Bayley, holding her close. "He's not here, Bayley. He's not here, okay? You're safe, sweetheart. So, so, safe," whispered Sasha, rubbing her hand down her distraught friend's arm, placing her chin on the top of Bayley's head.

Bayley whimpered, trying to catch her breath. Sasha held her tighter, placing her lips by her ear. She wanted to get her out of the shower and dressed, but she wasn't sure if that was going to be a possibility at the moment.

As if reading her mind, Charlotte popped out of the bathroom, returning a few seconds later with an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

"Bay, honey, let's get out of the shower now, okay? It's all over, sweet girl," whispered Charlotte, Sasha moving to help her up, Bayley shaking her head.

"Noo. Just leave me alone. Just leave me alone, please, please," she begged, refusing to look up, refusing to move. She rocked herself back and forth, just wanting to disappear, just wanting to stop feeling _him_ all over her.

"Baylz? Do you wanna get dressed by yourself? We can leave if that's what you want, sweetpea," whispered Becky, wanting to reach out and offer some physical comfort to her friend, but not wanting her to be upset with more people touching her.

Bayley shook her head miserably, continuing to cry.

"Do you wanna stay with her or….are we just gonna let her…."

Charlotte's voice drifted off, not sure at all of what they should or could do to help her. She should have listened to her sister Megan who was always trying to get her to watch those stupid crime shows. Maybe then she'd have an idea of what to do in this situation….

"I don't wanna leave her like this. No way," whispered Sasha, knowing Bayley was probably hearing every word they were saying, not sure she was in any condition to contribute to the conversation.

"Come on Baylz, let us help, love," whispered Becky, grabbing the clothes that Charlotte had brought in and climbing into the tub with Sasha and Bayley. Charlotte headed out of the bathroom, not wanting to overcrowd Bayley at the given moment; knowing full well that Becky and Sasha were okay for now.

Sasha reached for the only remaining towel in the bathroom, gently wrapping it around Bayley's still shaking body. Bayley tried to push her friend's away, but neither of them were giving in. Sasha gently dried off what she could, Becky quickly pulling the T-shirt over Bayley's head.

"Come on love, can you put your hands into the shirt, Bay?" whispered Becky, freeing Bayley's long brown hair from the neck of the shirt.

Bayley slowly pulled her arms through the sleeves, going right back into her earlier position of curling her arms around her knees, her hair falling in front of her face.

"Bay, it'll be easier to help you get dressed if we can get you out of the tub," whispered Sasha, still running her hand down Bayley's back.

"I can't. I can't. I can't," cried Bayley, trying not to have another panic attack, trying to focus on her breathing.

"Okay, alright. The shirt is big enough. It goes down to your knees almost. Come on, Sasha and I are gonna help you love to get out of the tub, alright?"

Becky made eye contact with Sasha once more, both girls gently lifting her up and over the walls of the tub, Sasha stepping out with her and holding her up as Becky tried to help her with her pants, Bayley flinching away, kicking at Becky, who just barely avoided the kick.

"No! No! No! Please, no!"

"Bayley, I- honey, we're just trying to get you dressed, baby," muttered Sasha, holding Bayley close.

Bayley broke down into tears, again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she cried, almost whining.

Sasha sighed, holding Bayley a little tighter. "Okay, why don't we just try going back into the room, sweetheart, hmm?"

Bayley nodded, keeping her face completely shielded from both girls as Sasha helped her back into the room, settling her onto her bed.

Charlotte glanced at the trio and then at the pants that Becky was still holding. "Don't ask," said Becky, Charlotte sighing.

"Bay, honey, we gotta get these pants on you. Do you want to do it yourself?" asked Charlotte, kneeling down so she was eye level with Bayley, not that it mattered since Bayley was still refusing to make eye contact with any of them.

Becky handed Charlotte the sweats, Charlotte gently placing her one hand on Bayley's leg near her ankle. "Is this okay, honey? I know you're not liking being touched right now and that's alright. Just say something if me touching you isn't wanted, alright?"

Charlotte waited a second before proceeding, gently easing the first leg of the pants on, before doing the same with the second leg. She could feel the uneasiness throughout the entire process, Bayley whimpering with each feel of the pants touching her skin.

"Bayley, honey?"

Charlotte's voice was soft as she spoke after the getting the pants fully on, reaching up to touch her friend's cheek, wishing she'd make eye contact again.

"Bayley, we really should take you to the hospital….they….they can do a rape kit there that….that'll help with um, with evidence," said Charlotte, glancing at the other two girl's in the room before looking back at Bayley.

Bayley shook her head, immediately pulling her legs back towards her, Charlotte stopping her, tucking her fingers under Bayley's chin, gently forcing her to look up, wishing she hadn't when she saw the unbearable sadness in her friend's gaze.

"Bayley, honey, the hospital will help you. That's what it's there for…." whispered Charlotte, her finger stroking Bayley's cheek.

"No. No, I don't wanna go to a hospital," cried Bayley, cringing away once more from Charlotte. "Everybody will know. I-I don't. I don't. I don't w-w-want an-any-anyb-body to- to

She was panicking again, her words coming out in between short gasps for air. Charlotte gently grabbed her hand, holding it to her heart. "Baby, stop. Focus on your breathing again. Focus on your breathing. Deep breaths, remember?"

Charlotte quietly coached her through it again, watching as her eyes once more went back to normal. "Good girl. Nice and slow. No more panicking," soothed Charlotte, brushing her hand through Bayley's hair.

"Bayley, the hospital is confidential. The doctors can't tell anybody that you're there or why you're there. That's the good thing about them, baby," whispered Sasha, joining Charlotte on the floor.

Bayley shook her head, licking her suddenly dry lips. "People will find out...they always find out when we are at the hospitals when we g-g-get injured and stuff. They always-always f-f-find out," she cried, trying to make sure she kept breathing the right way.

"Honey, if you don't go to the hospital, they can't...there won't be any way to, to-"

Charlotte tried to figure out the best way to phrase the situation, not wanting to upset Bayley anymore than she already was, which was enough for two lifetimes right now.

"Baylz, the hospital can help you more than we can, my love," whispered Becky, sighing as she sat down on the bed next to Bayley. "They can find evidence that could um- that could uh-

"Not that easy, is it?" asked Charlotte, shaking her head. Becky just shrugged, struggling to find the words.

"They could help police arrest him and put the bastard in jail forever," said Sasha, never being one for a loss of words.

Bayley shook her head, pushing herself away from all three of the girls in the room, nearly falling off the bed in the process. If they found out who it was, everybody would know. It would be everywhere. All over work. All over the media. All over social media. Everywhere. Everyone would know.

And not just about him. Not just about what he did.

But about her. And what happened to her.

They would know everything.

Her friends, her coworkers, her _family_…..

"No! No hospitals! No hospitals! I'm not going! I won't go! I won't go!" cried Bayley, sliding off the bed and into the corner, drawing her knees up to her chest, and burying her head once more.

Bayley sighed, hating herself even more as she cried. She didn't know what to do anymore. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to go to the hospital. She didn't want to tell her friends who had done this to her. If she told them, they would know, and soon her bosses would know, everybody she worked with would know….

She couldn't tell. She wouldn't tell. She wouldn't go to the hospital. There was nothing she could do. Nothing that would help.

Nothing except going back in time and changing it. And she couldn't do that either.

So she just had to figure out a way to move past it.

If there was even such a thing as doing that.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and follows! Hope you enjoyed the latest update and let me know what you guys think with a review!


	6. Chapter 6

"There is no way in hell she is going to make to that arena."

Sasha sighed, glancing down at Bayley who had managed to cry herself to sleep in the corner that she had crawled into. Becky had managed to pick her up and put her into the bed without her waking up. Then Sasha remembered how little sleep she had gotten the night before and realized just how exhausted she had to have been.

"What are we gonna do? She and I are supposed to be there in three hours. I can't even figure out how to tell Steph or Hunter that she won't be there tonight, let alone _why_." whispered Sasha, reaching out to gently stroke Bayley's hair, knowing how much her friend needed this sleep.

"I have no clue. She can't just not show up. But we need a reason. And they're going to expect that reason to come from her…." said Becky, sighing as she joined Charlotte on the other bed.

"Why can't we have one of those normal jobs where you just pick up the phone, fake a cough, and get out of work?" groaned Sasha, thinking that that life sounded easier at this particular moment.

"Doesn't help us right now, Sash. Either she shows up and we try to figure out a way to just keep her off TV, which considering she was the main event last night, I'm guessing they have her on the card for a fairly big segment tonight, or we convince her to tell Steph and Hunter what happened. Those are basically our choices," said Charlotte, falling back on the bed.

"What if we let her make that choice?" whispered Becky, eyeing Bayley. "I mean, I give it an hour, if that, before she wakes up from a nightmare given how last night and this morning went. She hasn't lasted an hour without having a panic attack since we've been here. The girl is a mess, and she has every right to be. Not to mention, if it happened _at _the arena….do we really want her going back to where it happened less than 24 hours later?"

Sasha groaned. "I don't know. I don't know what to do! What do we do? It's a lose, lose situation for her in every direction. She doesn't want to go to the hospital because she's afraid of people finding out. I don't even know if she knew the guy who did it. We don't know half of what she knows. All I know is that it happened and she is falling apart and there is nothing I can do to make it better for her, and that is _fucking killing me_. Because I should have _fucking _been there to keep it from happening at all!"

Sasha was crying as she finished exploding, wishing she had something to punch right now, or someone. Mostly the dick who had done this to her best friend. She wouldn't mind punching him...or shoving a pole up his ass a few hundred times. Either or, really.

Charlotte sighed, offering Sasha a hug. This was a lot on everybody. There was no denying that, but Sasha and Bayley were so close, and Charlotte had a feeling that they weren't far off from Sasha feeling at least a little guilty for what happened. Though there really was no need for it.

"Steph and Hunter are probably already at the arena. They usually get there hours earlier than anybody else. Why don't we wake up Bayley and see what she wants to do. She's gonna have to go, one way or the other. Even if it's just to tell Steph and Hunter that she can't be there. It might be better if we go now before everybody else gets there…." said Charlotte, Sasha nodding at that reasoning. It made sense. Charlotte was always the logical one of the group.

"And if she doesn't want to tell Steph or Hunter anything?"

Charlotte sighed, chewing on her bottom lip. "Then the three of us do everything and anything in our powers tonight to make sure we're with her the entire freaking day and night. It's gonna be hell for her, but if she wants to try being there then what else can we do?"

Sasha nodded, turning herself onto the bed, gently placing her hand on Bayley's back. "Bayley, honey?"

Sasha's voice was soft and gentle as she woke her friend up, Bayley waking up with ease, rubbing at her eyes as she glanced over at Sasha, who smiled.

"Baby, we gotta talk about tonight….." said Sasha, glancing at Charlotte before discussing the show and what she wanted to do about work.

Trying to get Bayley to leave the hotel room was a nightmare. For her and for Becky, Sasha, and Charlotte.

Sasha wrapped her arms around her friend, gently holding her close as they left the hotel, all three trying to keep Bayley out of sight. As soon as they got into the car service, Bayley curled herself up in the very back, gazing out the window, not really focused on anything going on around her. Sasha sat next to her, occasionally offering her a smile or a reassuring hand or shoulder squeeze, but for the most part, she just left her friend alone, knowing she preferred it that way at the moment.

Bayley started crying as soon as they pulled up the arena, refusing to get out of the car.

"Come on Bay, it's okay. You're with us, we're not gonna let anything happen to you," whispered Sasha, offering her terrified friend her hand. Bayley could feel her breathing getting worse, shaking her head, pushing herself away from the door…

"Bayley….Bay, honey, come on. You can do this. You can. I promise. We're here, baby. Nobody can hurt you, honey…." coaxed Charlotte, reaching in to help Bayley get out of the car.

"No. This….this….this is where it happened. I...he...I was….no, no, no, no!" cried Bayley, screaming when Charlotte climbed back in, pulling herself towards Bayley.

"Hey, hey, listen, I know. I know you are having a hard time right now, baby girl. I know. It hurts, I know," whispered Charlotte, gently placing her hand on Bayley's shoulder. "Honey, you have to get out of this car, though, okay? Sasha and Becca and I….we are right here and we're not gonna leave you alone at all today, okay? We won't. I promise, baby girl. Not for a second. Nobody is going to be able to hurt you. And we're gonna help you, okay?" whispered Charlotte, sighing as Bayley threw her arms around her, Charlotte gently holding her in her arms. "I'm here. I'm right here. Just stay with us, okay?"

Bayley nodded, allowing Charlotte to ease them both out of the car. "You want to walk in with me?" asked Sasha, knowing it would look a lot less suspicious if she were hanging on to Sasha.

Bayley nodded, realizing the same thing. Sasha gently wrapped her arms around her, easing her out of Charlotte's arm as the four girls quickly made their way into the arena, Bayley darting her eyes around for other people the entire time.

Sasha sighed as they made it through the hallways and into the locker room hours before anybody else was really set to arrive. Bayley immediately sat down on a bench, pulling away from the group and back into herself.

This time it was Becky who offered to console Bayley, gently kneeling down in front of her.

"Hey there, love," whispered Becky, pulling Bayley into a hug, not allowing her to fight it off. "You are being so strong right now, sweet girl. So, so strong. We are so proud of you for trying so hard today, sweetie."

Bayley began to sob, her fingers clutching at Becky's shirt. "I don't feel so strong right now," she whispered, letting out another small sob, squeezing her eyes shut as she cried.

Becky gently rubbed her back, placing a kiss to her hair. "But you are so, so, strong love. Most people would not have even been able to leave the hotel room, let alone come back here. But you are here, baby. And I know you're hurting, but you're here and that's a big step, even if you still need some help right now," whispered Becky, rocking Bayley in her arms, rubbing her hair.

Bayley nodded into Becky's shoulder, allowing her to continue to comfort her. Charlotte glanced at Sasha, motioning for her to step out of the room with her, not wanting Bayley to hear the conversation.

"What are we even doing forcing her to be here right now?" asked Charlotte, shaking her head. "You really think she's going to make it? What happens when she sees someone else? Someone she doesn't trust so much? This isn't going to end well if we keep her here...I have a bad feeling," said Charlotte, Sasha leaning up against the wall, running a hand tiredly through her own hair.

"I know. She can't be here. Becky is right. She is being hella strong right now. The girl has more strength in her right now than I would ever have if I were in her situation. But what do we do?" asked Sasha, glancing into the room, noting that Becky was now leaning against the bench, Bayley curled up completely in her arms.

"We figure out something, fast. Just….I don't know...Hunter loves the two of you. I swear you're his favorites," laughed Charlotte, earning a small smile out of Sasha before she rolled her eyes.

"What? You think me going to Hunter and telling him "oh, by the way, change of plans. Bayley can't come tonight and I can't tell you why' is going to work because he likes us?"

Charlotte shrugged. "You really want to put her in front of Steph and Hunter and see where that goes?"

Sasha let out an audible groan, using her palm to hit the wall behind her, leaning her head against the cool brick. "I don't know what to do! I don't know what's going to traumatize her less at this point!" yelled Sasha, growing more and more frustrated with the entire situation.

"_Ahem."_

Both Charlotte and Sasha looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat, Sasha's eyes growing wide at the site of Hunter standing just a few feet away, looking as if he'd heard at least part of their conversation.

"Shit," muttered Sasha, once more slamming her fists against the wall, rubbing at the knuckles that were starting to hurt from doing so.

"Care to...maybe fill me in?" asked Hunter, eyeing both of the girls curiously.

"Not preferably," said Sasha, trying to crack a smile for one of their bosses. Hunter always loved her sarcasm, anyways….

"Nice, Sash," he laughed, shaking his head. "Charlotte?"

Charlotte sighed, glancing towards the door. "I plead the fifth," she shrugged, rubbing at the back of her neck then.

"Great. So, I'll see you and Bayley at the show tonight, ready to go then," said Hunter, turning away, knowing there was more to the story than what the girls were telling him.

"Wait," groaned Sasha, sighing when Hunter turned back around, a knowing look on his face.

"Yes?" he asked, gazing at the nervous look on Sasha's face, the way her eyes kept darting between him and the partially closed door of the Women's Locker Room.

"I….you'll see me at the show tonight, for sure. Wouldn't miss it. Looking forward to it, even," rambled Sasha nervously, knowing Hunter was going to see right through it, not even sure why she was bothering.

"And…..what about Bayley?" he asked, sensing that that was where the conversation was heading next.

Sasha let out a long deep sigh, wishing she could just hit pause on the entire conversation, the entire day, hell, wishing she could just rewind back to last night and fucking stay with Bayley when she told her she wanted to stay a while longer. What the hell had she been thinking?

"Bayley….not so much…." muttered Sasha, frowning when she thought about her devastated friend.

"Why? What's going on?" asked Hunter, Sasha shrugging as she glanced down at the floor, shuffling her feet around on the cement.

"I….I….can't say…..exactly. I just…..um she is just…." Sasha glanced up at Charlotte, pleading for help.

"She's just not herself, right now. Um she doesn't feel well and it's really not a good idea, sir, for her to be on the show tonight," finished Charlotte, Sasha mouthing a silent thank you to her friend.

Hunter thought for a moment, stepping closer to Sasha, wanting to reach out to her but thinking better of it.

"Is she in there?" asked Hunter, nodding to the locker room that both girls kept glancing back at.

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Oh, why are you even asking? You already know the answer," she groaned, thankful that Hunter at least understood her. Stephanie not so much. She was still working her charm on her.

"Can I go talk to her?" asked Hunter and Sasha let out a half of a laugh. "I don't recommend it, Hunter….she's not….she's just…..she's hurting, right now. Not physically, I don't think, but emotionally she's just….not there right now. And it's really hard for her and adding someone new to the mix….especially you or Steph….I'm just trying to look out for my best friend. You have to understand that if I could tell you, I would, you know I would or she would, but we can't, right now. She can't, right now. Maybe someday, hopefully soon, but right now, tonight….please just let Charlotte and Becky take her home. Please don't make her be here tonight. It'll only hurt her more," explained Sasha, taking a deep breath as she finally got the words out of her mouth.

Hunter sighed, sitting down on a nearby bench as he looked up at Charlotte and Sasha, taking in what they were telling him. "Is it really that bad?" he asked, both Charlotte and Sasha nodding.

"Becky's here too?" he asked, and again the girls nodded. "Must be bad if all four of you are here with her tonight, then."

Charlotte and Sasha said nothing, glancing at each other while Hunter processed what two of his top girls were saying to him.

"Steph might kill me for this later, but, I'll deal with her. Go home. All four of you. Take care of her tonight, and this week. Becky and Charlotte can have Smackdown off too. And live events this weekend. Just take care of her, and come back on Monday and fill me in, okay? And if you need anything, or she needs anything, you let me know, okay?"

Sasha gave Hunter a hug, quietly thanking him for doing something he most definitely did not have to do. At all. But he did it and Sasha and Charlotte couldn't be more thankful.

As they walked back into the locker room, they noticed that Bayley was still curled up in Becky's arms, though now she was asleep.

"So? Did you guys think of anything?" whispered Becky, not wanting to wake Bayley up. It hadn't taken long for her to fall asleep, but Becky really wanted her to stay asleep for the moment. Her eyes were nearly swollen, well one of her eyes had already been swollen, but now they were both just heavy and starting to hurt her because of all the crying and the lack of sleep.

"Yeah. Hunter overheard us talking. He didn't hear much, but he questioned us. We told him that she just wasn't emotionally available and needed some time and he gave all four of us the week off to take care of her," said Sasha, kneeling down to place a kiss to her friend's hair.

"Well now that was too easy," muttered Becky, rocking Bayley slightly as she started to stir, not wanting to wake her up.

"So can we just get her out of here, then?" asked Becky, Charlotte shrugging. "I guess. We shouldn't really wait around here for nothing. I'd rather just get her back home, you know?"

Sasha nodded, standing up, helping Becky get up with Bayley still in her arms, before the girls grabbed their bags and headed for the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Sasha looked down at Bayley who was currently in her own world; her head in Sasha's lap, Sasha's hand gently playing with Bayley's hair. She was there, physically, but mentally she had been somewhere else since they got back from the arena.

Becky and Charlotte walked into the room carrying bags of food, Sasha eyeing the amount with great curiosity.

"Is it just us eating or are we suddenly inviting the entire hotel for food?" asked Sasha, laughing at her own joke. Becky shrugged, throwing some food onto the coffee table.

"Any word from the hotel about changing the reservation?" asked Charlotte and Sasha nodded, glancing down at Bayley, who seemed oblivious to the conversation going on above her.

"Yeah. They have an adjoining room available. I already have the keys for both. I told them we'd switch whenever you guys got back. Where's your room at?"

"Cool. We're three floors up," replied Charlotte, Becky sitting down at the edge of the bed, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of Bayley's eyes.

"Hey, girly-girl. You hungry? Char bought a ton of different foods," whispered Becky, stroking her friend's cheek.

Bayley shook her head, burying her face into Sasha's leg, Sasha gently placing a kiss into her hair. "Becca's right, sweetie. You need to eat something, Bay."

"I'm not hungry," whispered Bayley, Sasha rubbing her back.

"Just try to eat something, okay? Just 10 bites, that's all…." reasoned Sasha, Becky helping Bayley into a sitting position, much to Bayley's dismay.

"Noo," whined Bayley, fighting off Becky, slightly, as she forced her over to the couch, Charlotte placing a taco in front of her as well as some rice.

"Come on, baby, you gotta eat something," whispered Charlotte, Bayley taking the tiniest bite of the taco, making a face as she did so.

"I can't," whispered Bayley, gazing back at the bed. "I just want to sleep. Please?" whispered Bayley, Sasha shaking her head.

"No more sleep, baby. Not right now. Not until you eat something. 10 bites, remember? Big bites," she added, noting the last bite she took was hardly a bite at all.

"Don't make me have to feed you, because I will," teased Becky, placing a fork full of shredded chicken towards Bayley's mouth, Bayley turning her head away.

"Please. Please, just let me sleep. Please, I don't wanna be awake right now," whispered Bayley, a few stray tears escaping her eyes as she gazed down at her lap.

Charlotte gently walked over to the couch where Bayley was currently sitting, sitting next to her upset friend, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"Why do you just want to sleep tonight, sweetpea? You've been sleeping a lot today," said Charlotte, Bayley shrugging.

"It's just easier, to be asleep. Where I don't have to feel him on me. I just feel so...gross and dirty and…."

Charlotte sighed, placing a kiss to Bayley's hair. "I know it hurts right now sweetpea, but you gotta eat, Baylz," whispered Charlotte, handing her the taco. "10 big bites, okay?" said Charlotte, watching as Bayley took a little bit bigger of a bite, squeezing her eyes shut as she forced the food down.

"Good girl. Keep trying, okay?" said Charlotte, placing a gentle kiss to Bayley's shoulder.

Charlotte quietly coached Bayley through a few more bites, Bayley struggling through each one she took.

Sasha watched her best friend as she agonized over the food Charlotte was all but forcing down her throat, tears streaming down Bayley's face as if she was being tortured all over again. And in her mind, she probably was.

"No. Please, please. I don't want to eat anymore. It's making me sick!" cried Bayley as Charlotte tried to get her to take an eighth bite, Charlotte rubbing Bayley's back soothingly as the younger girl shoved the taco away, turning away from Charlotte as she drew her knees up to her chest.

Charlotte went to say something, Becky shaking her head. "Don't. Let it be if that's all she can eat right now," whispered Becky, sensing the urgency in Bayley's plea.

"Come on, my love. Come here, I'm right here," whispered Becky, wrapping her arms around Bayley, who clung to her friend's shirt. Becky gently rubbed her hand up and down her friend's back, Bayley wrapping her arms and legs around Becky as she openly sobbed.

Charlotte sighed, glancing at Bayley before looking over at Sasha. "And we still have to move rooms?" she asked, Sasha sighing.

"And the week has only begun," she muttered, getting up to start the clean up and moving rooms process.

* * *

The process of moving rooms wasn't _as _difficult as the girls had imagined. Bayley had been relatively quiet for the most part; Becky simply carrying her to their new room and settling her onto the bed. The girls had upgraded to adjoining rooms and suites, making it easier to camp out for the week.

They had debated on getting Bayley back to her own home where she might be more comfortable, but thought better against all the traveling. So instead they extended their stay at the hotel for the week and upgraded their rooms, hoping to make it as comfortable as possible for themselves as well as for Bayley.

They had decided it would be best for Charlotte to take the first night with her, seeing as Sasha had been with her last night, and Charlotte was better at getting her to eat or sleep or simply shower at the moment.

It killed them that Bayley essentially needed to learn how to live in this new world of hers; a world where safety and security were shattered, a world where she was tortured by the memories of what had happened to her.

Currently, all four of them were in one room watching Raw. Charlotte and Bayley were in a bed, Bayley curled up in Charlotte's lap, the tall blonde's arms wrapped around her smaller frame, Bayley's head lying against her chest. Sasha and Becky were on the couch.

"Hey, look, sweet girl," whispered Charlotte, placing a kiss to Bayley's hair. "They're talking about that pretty sweet main event you killed last night."

Bayley nodded, shifting her eyes towards the tv, the teeniest of smiles of gracing her lips as she watched the replay of the night before. Charlotte looked down, noticing the reaction and running her hand through Bayley's hair. "In case I didn't tell you yet, I'm so proud of you honey."

Bayley nodded, trying to remember the details of the night before, _before_. Her match. Her excitement. The energy. The crowd. The reaction. The feeling of another dream coming true.

But all of that was gone.

She would never be able to think about that night, that match, any of it, without remembering what happened to her after.

One of the biggest accomplishments in her career to date and it was forever ruined by one man who violated her in such a way she never thought possible.

Bayley burst into tears at the thought, sobbing a painful, heartbreaking, cry that shook her entire body. Sasha moved to get up, but Charlotte stopped her, wrapping her arms tightly around Bayley, moving her one arm so it was cradling her friend's head as she gently rocked her back and forth.

"Just let it all out, sweet girl. Just let it out," she muttered, closing her eyes as Bayley continued to cry.

Bayley's cries continued, Charlotte simply holding her, whispering gentle and soothing words into her ear, praying her friend was catching at least some of them. Sasha and Becky kept an eye on the situation, putting Raw on mute.

"Hey there, welcome back," whispered Charlotte as Bayley slowly came to, still hiccuping as a few tears continued to fall from her eyes. Charlotte gently wiped them away as Bayley looked up at her, her body collapsing once more against Charlotte.

"Thank you," she whispered, Charlotte placing a kiss to her hair. "For...for holding me."

Charlotte sighed, holding her tighter. "You never have to thank me for that, baby."

And with that, the girls simply went back to watching Raw, neither of them really saying much….until a few moments later.

Bayley watched as the segment changed from in ring to backstage, her eyes immediately widening at the sight of Batista standing with Charly Caruso, microphone in hand.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to run. But instead, she watched, silently, as her attacker showed up as if nothing had happened while she could barely make it ten minutes without crying or having a panic attack.

Her eyes were stony, her heart racing, as she watched him talk about returning, about how good it felt to be "home."

Her home. He was standing in her territory. That should have been her segment. But instead he took it. Just like he took everything else from her last night.

"How did it feel, Batista, to witness that incredible main event from last night? I know you went on Twitter and tweeted how proud you were of Bayley and Kacy Katanzaro for their match. Can we get some more of your thoughts?"

Batista smiled, looking straight into the mirror, as if he were staring right into her eyes again. "Well, Charly, it was awesome, like I said last night, to see some real talent in those girls. Kacy held her own against the powerhouse Bayley. It was an excellent match from start to finish. And Bayley came out victorious. What's that quote she always tweets? It's worth fighting for? Well, Charly, I can tell you for a fact she fought last night, and she deserved everything she earned."

And with that, Batista winked at the camera, walking off before they faded to commercial.

Bayley froze.

She couldn't move.

She couldn't speak.

She could feel her chest tightening up, his words piercing through her like knives stabbing her in every direction. _She deserved it…_

"No. No. No. No. No. No. No."

"Bayley? Bayley, honey, what's going on? What is it?" whispered Charlotte, rubbing her back.

Bayley shook her head, shoving herself away from Charlotte, away from the comfort, away from it all. She just wanted to get away. She slid herself away from her friend, falling off the bed in the process.

Tears spilled down her face, Bayley feeling the panic rising through her. She shoved herself into the corner as far as she could, drawing her knees up to her chest. _She deserved it. She fought and she deserved it. _His words acted like his hands roaming her body, cutting through every piece of her he could find. A blood curdling scream escaped her lips, her arms tightening around her body as her chest began to tighten even more. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe.

"Bayley! Bayley, look at me!" cried Charlotte, touching her back. All Bayley felt were hands touching her.

"No! No! Get away from me!" cried Bayley, flinching away from the touch she felt, letting out another scream, gasping for air.

Charlotte and Sasha were at her side, both of them trying to get her at least out of the corner.

"Bayley, shh, shh, shh. Honey, you're okay. You're safe, baby," whispered Sasha, wrapping her smaller body around Bayley's waist as she managed to squeeze behind her, just wanting to get her friend to breathe.

"Breathe, Bayley. Breath, honey," whispered Sasha, squeezing Bayley just enough as she held her in the tightest hug she could manage.

Bayley moaned, still crying, trying desperately to catch her breath. "You're okay. You can do it, honey. Just breathe," whispered Charlotte, touching her friend's knee. "We're here. Sasha and Becca and I are right here. You're safe. Nobody can get you," reassured Charlotte, watching as Bayley's breathing slowly came back to normal.

"Good girl. Good, good girl. You're okay," whispered Charlotte, forcing Bayley to look at her, her face far too pale, tears still streaming down her cheeks, soft, quiet sobs, still escaping her lips.

Bayley felt weak in Sasha's arms, her mind still racing as she thought about what she had just seen, what she had just heard.

"Bay, what happened, love? What scared you so badly?" asked Becca, sitting down on the bed Charlotte and Bayley had been on previously.

Bayley shook her head, lowering her gaze once more. She wasn't ready to talk about it. She wasn't ready to tell them yet…

Bayley reached out for Charlotte, feeling like a child, but just wanting her friend's "mom mode" as they constantly teased, to come out. Charlotte knew exactly what she wanted, pulling Bayley into her arms, cradling her against her shoulder, one arm on her head, another on her back.

Bayley continued to sob loud, painful, cries, refusing to tell her friend's what had really happened. Charlotte simply held her, rocking her back and forth, offering her gentle kisses on her forehead. Her hands clutched at Charlotte's back as she cried, the gentle motion of Charlotte rocking her soothing the sobs away, until all that was left was an emotionally drained and exhausted Bayley wrapped up in Charlotte's arms.

It was another hour or so before Charlotte dared to move Bayley to the bed, the young brunette hadn't said a word since she'd crawled into Charlotte's arms, Sasha still standing by just in case.

She wasn't asleep when Charlotte moved her to the bed, Sasha helping to ease the cover's over her still shaking body, placing a gentle kiss to the bridge of her nose. Bayley reached for Sasha's hand, managing a quiet, terribly weak, moan as she grasp her friend's fingers, squeezing them with what little energy she had left.

"Shh, shh, shh. Charlotte's gonna stay with you tonight, baby girl, okay?" whispered Sasha, brushing a strand of her friend's brown hair away from her blood shot eyes.

Bayley nodded, feeling the bed shift as Charlotte climbed on, placing a kiss to her hair. Bayley turned her body, facing Charlotte, a fresh batch of tears filling her eyes as she gazed at her friend's loving features, digging herself into Charlotte's midsection.

Charlotte continued to stroke Bayley's hair, continued kissing her hair and her forehead as she silently cried into Charlotte's neck.

Something had set Bayley off tonight.

But what was it?

"What was that about?" asked Sasha, sighing as Bayley had finally fallen asleep.

Charlotte shrugged, gently easing herself off the bed, heading over to the couch in the room where both Sasha and Becky were currently sitting.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Becky, Sasha glancing over at the Irish woman, a sad thought overtaking her brain.

"That that was quite the reaction to Batista just talking about her match? Yeah, it seemed weird to me too," said Sasha, glancing over at Bayley, who was currently fast asleep.

"I think he's the one," said Becky, glancing at both Charlotte and Sasha. Sasha nodded slowly, not wanting to believe it, but it had been a sinking thought in her stomach since Bayley's earlier meltdown.

"Me too," whispered Sasha, swallowing hard. She wanted to be wrong. She hoped she was wrong. But there was just something about Bayley's reaction that told her that they weren't wrong.

And it made Sasha want to head over to the arena and set fire to a certain superstars dressing room. Twice.

Because even though she didn't want to believe it, she knew Bayley. She knew there was nothing that would warrant the kind of reaction she gave to Batista's appearance tonight on TV. Nothing, except for him being involved in what happened to her only twenty four hours earlier.

Charlotte sat quiet, processing what her friends were talking about. It couldn't be. She didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be him. They had to be mistaken. There had to be another reason. Dave Bautista was….she had known him for years, dating back to when she was just a kid. Her father would bring him around for dinners and events. He had been part of Evolution, a group her father was also a big part of back in the early 2000s.

She didn't want to believe that the same man who used to come to her house when she was a child could be the same man who attacked one of her best friends last night.

But she would. If that were the truth. And judging by Bayley's reaction, how could she not believe that he didn't play some kind of role in it?

"Char? You okay?"

Charlotte snapped out of her thoughts, staring back at Sasha and Becky, taking a heavy breath. "Yeah. Sorry, I was listening, I just…."

"I know," said Sasha, understanding exactly what her friend was thinking. Batista was a long time friend of Eddie Guerrero's. Sasha had loved watching him as a child. "I'm thinking the same thing."

Charlotte nodded, glancing over at the bed where Bayley was thankfully still asleep. "We should get some sleep. It's been a long day….and I have no idea how long Bayley is actually going to sleep for tonight."

"If it's anything like last night, I wish you the best of luck," replied Sasha, Charlotte letting out a small laugh. "Thanks. I might need it."

"We'll leave the door to our room unlocked. Just come get us if you need us," said Becky, standing up from the couch, Sasha and Charlotte doing the same.

"Thanks," said Charlotte, heading over to the bed where Bayley currently was, not wanting to leave her side for the night and sleep in her own bed.

She gently leaned down, placing a kiss to Bayley's hair, sighing as she temporarily watched her friend sleep, laying down herself as she felt her eyes drifting closed.

"_I just want to get to know the main event up close and personal."_

"_Let me give you a ride."_

"_Why are you being so difficult?"_

"_We could have done this the easy way, but you're choosing the hard way…."_

_His hands were everywhere. His mouth and tongue and lips were everywhere, all over her. She was crying, begging him to stop, but he didn't care. He was laughing, enjoying every single inch of her…._

"Stop! No! Stop! Please, STOP!"

Charlotte woke up as soon as she heard the screaming, her friend thrashing around on the bed….

"Bayley? Bay, wake up, honey. Shh, shh, wake up, sweet girl," whispered Charlotte, keeping her voice close to Bayley's ear. "Just open your eyes, Bayley…"

Bayley's eyes flew open, her eyes not adjusting to the dark quick enough, seeing nothing but a shadow looming over her.

"NO! NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, shoving the shadow away from her, crying out again when she felt their arms reaching out, gently holding her down….

"Bayley? Bayley, it's me, it's Charlotte, honey. Just look at me, baby girl. Look at me," whispered Charlotte, reaching over carefully to turn on the lamp and give the room a little bit of light.

Bayley's eyes stared widely at Charlotte, whimpering as the images of her nightmare continued flashing through her mind, Bayley shaking her head as she tried to fully wake up.

"I'm here, baby. I'm right here," whispered Charlotte, gently cupping Bayley's face, stroking her cheek as Charlotte forced her to meet her concerned gaze.

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Char-Charl-lo-lo-tte?"

Charlotte nodded as Bayley attempted to regain her composure, choking on the sobs that had started to escape her lips. "I'm right here. I'm right here. You're safe, okay? Nobody's gonna hurt you anymore, sweetheart."

"Promise?" whispered Bayley, her face crumbling once more, Charlotte sighing as she gently pulled Bayley into her arms, rocking her back and forth as she cried.

"Always, baby girl," whispered Charlotte, placing a kiss into her hair, closing her eyes as Bayley continued crying.

Charlotte continued to hold her friend, trying to soothe her back to sleep, noting that it was only 1am. The crying stopped after an hour or so, though quiet hiccups and an occasional whimper told Charlotte that Bayley was still awake. She leaned down close to her ear once more, continuing to rub a hand down her arm.

"Close your eyes, Baylz. Try and get some more sleep," whispered Charlotte, Bayley shaking her head.

"I don't want to. I don't want to see him anymore," whispered Bayley, a few more tears escaping her eyes.

"Bayley, you have to sleep, honey. You can't avoid it. You gotta try and take care of yourself, sweetie," whispered Charlotte, bringing Bayley's gaze up to meet her own.

Bayley just shrugged, curling up in Charlotte's arms. Charlotte sighed, pulling the blanket over both of them, hoping that if she made Bayley as comfortable as possible, she would just fall asleep on her own.

Charlotte turned the TV on quietly in the background, some old family sitcom playing. Bayley's eyes gazed over at it, Charlotte running her hand down Bayley's back, hoping her friend would find sleep again sometime during the night.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I'll give you all two chapters since I'm so terrible at updating this story on here...sorry about that! Anyways, hope you all are enjoying the story and if you want to leave a review and let me know your thoughts on it...those make my day so you know... :) Thanks for reading and enjoy the double update!

Becky was the first one of the four girls awake, which wasn't anything surprising or new. She hopped in for a quick shower, throwing on a cozy loose tank top and a pair of jeans, leaving her wavy red hair down for the day.

She glanced over at the clock, noting it was only 6:30 in the morning. By her calculations, Charlotte would be awake in another thirty minutes or so and Sasha would wake up in about an hour. Bayley was usually the last of them to wake up, typically having to be dragged about of bed. She was definitely not a morning person.

Thinking of Charlotte and Bayley, Becky decided to peak into the other room, wondering how their night had gone. She hadn't heard anything at all throughout the night, but both she and Sasha were fairly heavy sleepers so that didn't mean anything.

She opened the door to the adjoining room quietly, glancing over at the bed as she noticed that Charlotte was fast asleep, her eyes widening when she realized Bayley was not in the bed with her. She quickly entered the room fully, letting out a small sigh of relief when she saw the other woman curled up on the couch, her head resting on her knees as she mindlessly watched whatever was playing on the tv.

Becky walked over to the couch, clearing her throat so as to not startle her. The poor girl looked absolutely exhausted when her gaze met Becky's, offering her friend the smallest of smiles.

"Hey, love. What are you doing up? The sun's not even up yet," said Becky, sitting down next to Bayley. Bayley just shrugged, gazing back at the tv, as if she actually cared about whatever was on.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, shrugging it off. "And I didn't want to wake up Charlotte so I just moved to the couch."

Becky nodded, reaching out to tuck in a stand of Bayley's long brown hair, offering her a gentle smile. "I was gonna go get some breakfast for everybody. You wanna come along for the ride?" asked Becky, Bayley glancing down at the sweatpants she was still wearing from yesterday, not really wanting to shower. It hurt too much, seeing the areas she could still feel him touching, the water touching her skin the way he did….

"You don't have to shower, love, if you don't want. Maybe just throw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt?" she asked, wondering if that was too much for Bayley right now.

Bayled nodded hesitantly, beginning to feel a little cooped up in the hotel room, even though it was quite spacious. "Okay. I can do that," she whispered, Becky letting out a small sigh of relief. She'd take any victory she could at this point, and Bayley willingly wanting to leave the hotel room seemed like a major victory at the moment.

Bayley was ready within twenty minutes, opting to wear a simple long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans. Becky smiled as her friend met her in her room, trying to ignore the bags under her eyes...for now. She hoped that this outing would at least lead her to eating something later. Possibly. Hopefully.

"You ready?" asked Becky, Bayley nodding gently. Becky smiled, grabbing her room key and her purse before the two headed out the door.

The elevator ride down and the walk to the car was quiet, Bayley standing extremely close to Becky, who wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders, leading the way to the car. Bayley, for the most part, avoided eye contact with any passerbys, simply staring at the floor or stealing a glance towards her friend.

As they got in the car and started driving, Becky glanced over at Bayley, who was now gazing at the scenery they were passing by. She took her friend's hand in one of her own, Bayley turning towards her and offering her another small smile.

"Anything in particular you want?" asked Becky, kind of hoping Bayley had an answer for her, which would in turn mean there was something she actually wanted to eat. She had eaten some at dinner the night before, but definitely not nearly enough.

Bayley shook her head, glancing down at her jeans. "Not really," she whispered, knowing that Becky was probably expecting her to eat something. She was certain her friends would make her eat something. She just didn't know how to put it into words that it physically hurt to eat right now, that her insides were such a mess that just the act of keeping food down was hard.

"There's a little diner over there," said Becky, nodding to the right. "Why don't we grab some breakfast sandwiches and bring it back to the room?" asked Becky, Bayley nodding in agreement.

"Okay."

Becky was thankful that the small restaurant wasn't busy. A crowded restaurant was the last place Bayley really needed to be right now, and Becky didn't want to scare her into never wanting to leave the hotel room at all.

The two girls waited in line at the counter, Becky wrapping her arms once more around Bayley, who leaned in closer to her good friend. Becky ordered a little bit of everything; french toast, omelettes, hash browns, breakfast sandwiches….Bayley wasn't sure what the purpose of her ordering so much was, but she wasn't really paying much attention anyways.

"We just gotta wait for the food, then we can go back to the hotel."

Bayley looked up as Becky started speaking again, nodding in understanding. She glanced around at the quaint diner, taking in some of the cool antique photos hanging on the wall, a few potted flowers scattered throughout the restaurant. There were a couple of families in the booths, a few elderly couples….but it wasn't busy. Not yet. Bayley wondered what time a place like this got busy, if it ever did.

"Well, look who decided to show their face to the world again? I must say, I never took you for one who took days off in the middle of the week."

Bayley's blood ran cold as she heard the voice from behind. No. It couldn't be. He...he couldn't be here. He….he couldn't…

She turned around slowly, Becky had gone up to the counter to grab the food, her eyes coming face to face with the man who had been occupying her head day and night for the last 36 hours.

She froze. She didn't know what to do. She wanted to run. She needed to run. He had found her. How had he found her. Where was Becky?

Bayley opened her mouth, trying to speak, but nothing was coming out. Batista smiled, watching pleasantly as Bayley started struggling to breathe again, her eyes widening as she watched his hand reach out to touch her shoulder….

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Bayley screamed in terror, not sure how her brain managed to do so. Becky whirled around at the sound of the scream, forgetting all about the bags of food she'd just been handed as she raced over to Bayley, seeing exactly what, or in this case who, it was that had made her scream.

"Get the fuck away from her!" yelled Becky, immediately stepping in between the two, Bayley still gasping for air as the man who had just raped her two nights earlier stood less than 1 foot away from her, Becky being the only separating them.

Batista held up his hands, immediately backing up. "Hey, dude, I was just saying hi. Geezus, can't even say hello to woman anymore without them getting scared…."

"Get out, now," said Becky, her voice dangerously low, the trio now successfully having caused a scene in the diner.

Becky immediately turned to Bayley, the younger woman now completely terrified, her body shaking wildly, her eyes wide and unfocused. Becky ignored the stares of pretty much everybody in the restaurant, focusing solely on her friend.

"Hey, come on, let's go back to the car, okay? It's alright, I'm right here. I got you," whispered Becky, gently wrapping her arms around her shoulders, guiding her out the door and to the car.

* * *

Becky pulled the car up into the hotel parking lot, quickly pulling into a spot and putting it into park. Bayley hadn't said a word the entire car ride. Some employee of the place had brought their bags of food to the car, not that Becky had really cared about it at that point.

Becky eyed her distraught friend, sighing as she took in the sight of tears in Bayley's eyes, her legs drawn up to her chest once more, as if she was trying to protect herself from the world around her. It was breaking Becky's heart.

"You wanna talk about it, love? Before we go upstairs?"

Bayley wiped at her eyes, shaking her head miserably as she thought about what had just happened. Seeing him. Again. After what he had just done to her.

"It might help you, love, telling someone about what's going on in that head of yours. It's gotta hurt, honey, keeping it all bottled up inside…." whispered Becky, reaching out to rub her friend's thigh.

Bayley put her hand over her mouth, trying to hold back the sob that was trying to force its way up, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt her emotions once again getting the best of her.

"Oh, Bay…." whispered Becky, rubbing her back in circles as she began fully sobbing. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so, so, sorry," she whispered, just wanting to pull Bayley into her arms and let her cry, but being in a car was kind of preventing that.

"I told him no, Becca! I begged him to stop! I told I didn't want to! Why would he do this to me!" cried Bayley, and there was no doubt in Becky's mind that _he _was, indeed, Batista.

She freaking knew it. That slimy, disgusting, pathetic, loser. She knew it had been him after last night.

And he was going to pay. One way or another, he was going to pay. Becky was going to make sure of it.

"I know, baby girl. I know you did. Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I am so, so, sorry," whispered Becky, leaning over the console, gently placing a kiss to Bayley's forehead, bringing her teary eyed gaze up to meet her own.

"Tell me, Bayley. Tell me who did this? Was it Batista? Is he the one who…..?"

Bayley closed her eyes, turning away from Becky, pulling herself back into her own little world, sobbing as she nodded her head, answering the only question Becky needed answered.

Becky got out of the car, heading over to the other side and pulling the door open, gently pulling Bayley into her arms, rocking her back and forth, not caring who saw them in the parking lot of the hotel.

Bayley continued to cry, wrapping her arms around Becky's neck, hot tears hitting Becky's shoulder as Bayley buried her face.

"Come on, my love. Let's get you upstairs, okay? Let's get you back up to the room, darling," whispered Becky, helping Bayley out of the car, wrapping her arms around her waist as the two made their way back into the hotel.

As soon as they got back into the room, Bayley ran over to her bed, curling up into herself as she continued crying. Sasha and Charlotte looked over, Sasha immediately running to her friends side while Charlotte stayed back with Beck.

"What happened? Where did you guys go?" asked Charlotte, Becky shrugging.

"I thought it would be a good idea to get her out of the room, go get some breakfast, you know? And then we ran into someone."

Charlotte frowned, glancing over at Bayley. Sasha had her arms wrapped around her crying form, whispering something into her ear.

"Who?"

"Her rapist."

Charlotte's eyes widened, choking on the words her friend had just said. "Her...her...what? Who?"

Becky shook her head, thinking about the man who had attacked her friend, a man that she had never really known but trusted nonetheless. A man who she knew Charlotte did have a good relationship with.

"Dave Batista."

Becky whispered the words quietly, not wanting Bayley to hear the name. Charlotte closed her eyes, turning away. She hadn't wanted to believe it. She hadn't….

"Are you sure?" asked Charlotte, swallowing hard as she thought about it. It had never occurred to her, at least not until last night, that the man who had attacked Bayley could be someone they knew.

"Yeah. She confirmed it in the car," whispered Becky, tears forming in her own eyes as she thought about the torment and pure hell Bayley was going through right now, just wanting to hold her and never let her go.

Sasha wrapped her arms around a sobbing Bayley, gently pulling her friend closer to her, placing a kiss to her hair. She knew Charlotte and Becky were talking about something, probably the reason Bayley had come back so upset, but right now her main focus was on Bayley; her best friend, her tag team partner for life, her better half.

"Shh, shh, shh. I'm right here, sweet girl. I'm here," whispered Sasha, adjusting her grip slightly as Bayley continued to cry.

She sighed as she felt the trembling underneath her fingertips, her friend crying so hard she was shaking again. She just wanted this nightmare to end for Bayley. She wanted to go back in time and make sure it never happened to begin with.

But she couldn't. And so all she could do now was pick up the pieces and, though she knew she was missing some forever, she hoped she and the other two women in the room could put Bayley back together again as whole as could be.

Sasha placed another kiss to Bayley's hair, humming a gentle tune quietly as Bayley continued to cry, hoping it would help her fall asleep. Lord knew she needed it.

Bayley moaned, fighting sleep as she tried to pull herself away from Sasha, but Sasha held fast. "Come on, baby, just close your eyes. I'm right here," whispered her friend, rubbing circles on her back in a soothing motion.

"I don't wanna sleep," cried Bayley, choking on her words, gasping for air, panic and anxiety setting in once more.

"Baby, you have to sl-

"No! I don't wanna see him again! I don't wanna feel him again! He's gonna do it all over again!" cried Bayley, her face red as she screamed, shoving herself away from Sasha successfully this time, nearly throwing herself off the bed and back into that damn corner she kept crawling into.

Charlotte and Becky had stopped talking as soon as they realized Bayley was starting to panic again, kneeling down next to Sasha, who was trying to get Bayley to breathe.

"This is like the tenth panic attack she's had in like 12 hours…." muttered Becky, concern dripping from her thick Irish accent. Charlotte frowned. "7."

"Come on, Bay, just look at us, honey. Let us help you," whispered Sasha, reaching out to touch her friend's hair which was currently hiding her face.

Bayley made a mangled gurgling noise, still gasping for air in between short breaths.

"Bayley, we're not gonna hurt you, baby girl. Nobody in this room will ever hurt you," whispered Charlotte, just wanting to get her friend to breathe….

Sasha couldn't take it anymore. She gently reached out again for Bayley, pulling her into her arms even as she continued to fight her off.

"No! No! No!" cried Bayley, using her fists to hit, but Sasha wasn't having any of it, pulling her tighter against her. "I'm here. Shh, shh, shh. I'm here now, sweet girl. I'm right here. It's okay. You're gonna be okay," whispered Sasha, gently rocking her friend back and forth, keeping her arms tight around Bayley as she continued to cry.

"I don't wanna see him. I don't want him to hurt me again," cried Bayley, moaning weakly in her friend's arms.

Sasha closed her eyes, not sure of what she could do to help her friend get any kind of sleep at this point. She couldn't even begin to imagine the images flashing through Bayley's mind every time she closed her eyes….

"Please don't make me sleep, Sash. Please don't make me sleep," begged Bayley, hiccuping through her tears. Sasha wasn't surprised in the least when she felt tears fall from her own eyes, looking over and noting that Charlotte and Becky were in the same boat.

Sasha placed another tender kiss to her friend's hair, pulling her up into her arms with ease, Bayley wrapping her arms around Sasha's neck. Sasha brought her over to the couch in the room, gently settling herself down, Bayley curled up in her lap.

Charlotte, sensing what was going on, grabbed a blanket off of one of the beds, grateful they had gotten a room with one of those long sectional couches.

Sasha offered a silent thank you to their blonde haired friend, settling herself against the arm of the couch. Bayley lied across Sasha's upper body, fighting, barely, as Charlotte placed the blanket over the duo.

Bayley sighed deeply, listening silently to the beating of her friend's heart, Sasha gently showering her friend's hair and forehead with kisses, her arm running up and down Bayley's back.

And though it took some time, the tv playing on mute in the background, Bayley eventually fell asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

"I feel like we should celebrate the fact that she's been asleep for the last three hours without waking up from a nightmare."

Sasha sighed, glancing down at Bayley, who was still fast asleep in her arms. "Enjoy it while you can. I don't know how long this is gonna last," she muttered. "And this isn't even the worst of it. This is nothing compared to the road she's got ahead of her," whispered Sasha, closing her eyes as she wondered if Bayley would ever truly be the same again; knowing in her heart that she probably wouldn't.

"We still need to get her to eat something when she does wake up," said Charlotte, looking at the clock. It was almost 1pm. Bayley hadn't eaten anything the day before. They'd hoped to get some food in her at breakfast this morning, but then she'd come back so wound up….

To which Becky then realized, nobody had filled Sasha in on what had happened.

"Hey, Sash, we gotta talk," said Becky, sighing heavily.

Sasha glanced up at Becky, frowning. "What's up?"

"It's about this morning. I think...well, not think. I...something happened, at the diner that we went to to get breakfast this morning; Bayley and I," began Becky and Sasha furrowed her eyebrows.

"I mean, I kind of figured since she came back the way she did….what happened? Did she just get scared…..?" asked Sasha, Becky shaking her head.

"Not exactly. I mean, yes, but…."

Sasha was gonna freak out. She loved Bayley. Not that Becky and Charlotte loved her any less, but Sasha and Bayley were essentially sisters. The two would be sisters by blood if they could figure out a way to make that happen.

"Bex? What is it?"

Becky swallowed hard, gazing sadly at Bayley. "We know….who ra-...who did this to her," whispered Becky, that knot in Charlotte's stomach coming back as her friend was about to say his name out loud again.

"What? How? Who?"

"I….she told me in the car….after…..after she saw him at the diner."

"She WHAT?!" screamed Sasha, Bayley starting to whimper in her arms, Sasha immediately lowering her voice as she turned her attention back to Bayley, who was starting to toss and turn.

"Nice, Sash," muttered Charlotte, sighing as it looked like Bayley was about to wake up again.

Sasha cursed under her breath, sighing as she gently rubbed her friend's back, placing a gentle kiss to her hair. "Shh, shh, shh. It's okay, baby. You're okay," whispered Sasha, holding her breath as Bayley settled further onto her chest, her arm falling off to the side.

The conversation came to a halt for a few moments, none of them wanting to wake Bayley up again. That girl needed as much sleep as she could get before another nightmare was bound to strike.

"Who….who is he? Is it….?" asked Sasha, keeping her emotions in check, refusing to be the one to wake her friend up again.

"Yeah. It was Batista," confirmed Becky.

And if it wasn't for Bayley sleeping in her arms, Sasha probably would been out that door in search of Batista herself.

"No….Noooo…..mmmmm, please don't….." whined Bayley, her her body beginning to thrash around on top of Sasha, clearly having another nightmare.

Sasha, Charlotte, and Becky hadn't said much since Becky had told her about Batista. Sasha had plenty she _wanted_ to say, but she didn't want to wake Bayley up. That had only been about 45 minutes ago. The trio had settled onto the couch in silence, watching mindless TV while Bayley had continued to sleep.

Which she was apparently not doing anymore.

Sasha adjusted her arm, tightening her grip on Bayley as she leaned her lips close to her friend's ear.

"Shh, shh, shh. He's not here, baby. You're safe, Bay. You're safe, honey. Shh, Becca and Charlotte and I are right here. He can't hurt you…."

Bayley whimpered, almost whining, as she continued to see him in her dreams, his voice almost mocking her….

"Bayley? Bay, honey, open your eyes."

Bayley let out an ear piercing scream, her eyes suddenly flying open, and Sasha nearly tumbled off the couch with her as her arms started flailing, Becky and Charlotte jumping up to grab her as she fell backwards, just narrowly avoiding hitting herself on the coffee table…

"Bayley! Bayley, come on, baby. Look at us. Look at me. It's Charlotte, sweetheart…"

Her brown eyes were fully dilated, her breathing coming out in short gasps once again as she fought against Charlotte, the blonde haired girl sighing as Bayley slowly awoke from her nightmare, her eyes settling on the deep blue eyes of Charlotte that were currently filled with concern.

"Char?"

"Hmm? I'm right here, Baylz. I'm here. So is Sasha and Becca...you're safe, honey."

Bayley nodded before breaking down into sobs, distancing herself slightly from Charlotte, drawing her knees up to her chest as she cried.

"Well she broke her own personal record for sleep in the last 48 hours," muttered Becky, slowly reaching out to rub circles on her back, thankful that she was allowing anybody to touch her at the moment.

It took a few more moments before the girls were able to get Bayley to settle down, the younger woman sighing slowly, keeping her arms drawn around herself, her head now resting on her knees.

"Feeling better, love?" asked Becky, giving her a reassuring smile as Bayley slowly nodded.

Sasha leaned over the couch, startling Bayley with a kiss to her hair, Bayley nearly jumping out of her own skin. Charlotte rolled her eyes, glaring at Sasha.

"Dude, seriously?"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" cried Bayley, Becky sighing as she reached for her distraught friend, pulling her into her arms.

She cradled Bayley in her arms, sighing softly as Bayley continued to cry. Charlotte glanced at the clock, chewing on her lower lip.

"Soooo….whose gonna tell her she has to eat something before anything else?" asked Charlotte, Sasha letting out a small laugh.

"All you, Charles…." laughed Sasha, ignoring the glare she got for using Charlotte's most hated nickname.

"I did it the last time!" she argued quietly, thankful that Bayley was in her own little world currently.

Becky rolled her eyes, placing a kiss to her friend's brown hair, rubbing her back as she stared off into space.

"Well fine, since you two are acting like children over there…." replied Becky, knowing her friends were only joking, but Becky wouldn't even blame them if they weren't at this point. This had been going on for nearly 48 hours now. They were all exhausted. And it was breaking their hearts to watch Bayley go through her own personal hell and not have a way to get her out of it.

"If you two stop arguing long enough to get the food up here, then I'll work on her," said Becky, closing her eyes. _Battle number 100 out of 1000 was about to begin._

Sasha and Charlotte had ordered a little of everything in hopes that options would get Bayley to eat _something. _The last time she'd eaten was last night at dinner, the 10 bits of the taco Charlotte had all but bribed her to eat. And she had only managed to get through 8 of the 10 bites…

Bayley physically coiled at the sight of so much food on the table, the young brunette burying herself in Becky's arm as the smells wafted through the air of the hotel room.

"No. I don't want to eat," whispered Bayley, pouting.

Becky nodded, gently sitting Bayley down next to her, rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "I know, baby. But you have to eat something. You only ate a few bites last night at dinner….you have to be starving right now, sweetie," said Becky, not trying to pressure Bayley...yet.

Bayley whimpered, her stomach doing flip flops just at the mere thought of putting food in her mouth.

"I can't," whispered Bayley, turning away as she felt the nausea rolling around inside of her.

Becky grabbed a small bowl, pouring some of the soup they'd ordered into it. "Come on honey, just try a little soup. If it's your stomach that's bothering you, the broth might help settle it a little bit…" coaxed Becky, pushing the bowl towards Bayley, still keeping one hand on her back.

Bayley tried to put the spoon towards her mouth, physically cringing as she did so before pushing it away,

"No. It hurts too much," whispered Bayley, Becky glancing at Charlotte and Sasha, whom she knew would not be nearly as patient with Bayley right now as she was being. They loved her so much. That wasn't the problem. But Becky could see that their concern over her not currently being able to take care of herself was getting to them.

"Okay, love. Okay. Why don't we just try some toast for now? Please, baby?" asked Becky, handing her a piece of dry toast.

This continued for another fifteen minutes or so, Becky trying everything under the sun to get Bayley to eat even one bite of something.

"Baylz, come on. Last night you at least took 8 bites of a taco. Can you at least try for another 8 bites of something?" asked Charlotte, jumping in when it seemed Becky was getting nowhere fast with her. At this rate they'd be there until morning trying to get her to eat.

Bayley shook her head. "I can't!" she yelled, tears pouring down her face. "I can't. It hurts. It's making me feel sick," cried Bayley, groaning.

"Bay, then just eat some toast, honey. Something. Baby, I don't care what you eat, but you need to eat _something." _explained Charlotte, watching and waiting, praying Bayley would take her advice and just put something in her mouth.

Bayley shook her head, drawing her knees up to her chest. She couldn't do it. She just _couldn't. _Why were they making her do this when she couldn't?

"Bayley."

Becky moved out of the way as Sasha took a stab at it, sitting next to her best friend, her sister, on the couch, wrapping her arms around her body.

"Bay, come on. You have to eat. No more of this, okay? I'm not gonna let you do this to yourself," whispered Sasha, reaching for some toast, spreading a little bit of peanut butter onto it for the protein.

"Come on, Bay, open up," said Sasha, not caring that she was forcing her friend to do this against her will. She refused to let her starve herself. She was already sleep deprived and barely functioning on her own as it was.

Bayley shook her head, wrapping her arms tighter around her leg. Sasha sighed. Bayley could be stubborn when she wanted to. Luckily for Sasha, she was even more so.

"Bayley."

"No. You can't make me. I don't want to."

Sasha rolled her eyes. Okay. Enough was enough. This girl was going to eat tonight, if it took Sasha all night to get her to do so.

Sasha managed to pry Bayley's hand's away from her knees, gently forcing Bayley to lift her head. "Here, baby, come on. You gotta eat, Bay…" said Sasha, tearing a small piece of the toast off, not wanting to make her choke, coaxing Bayley's mouth open as her friend viciously fought her, trying to shove her away, turning her head away from Sasha.

Sasha sighed as she somehow managed to get a piece into Bayley's mouth, her now completely distressed friend screaming as Sasha did so.

"Chew and swallow," said Sasha firmly, watching as Bayley did as she asked, crying the entire time.

Sasha immediately rubbed her back, Bayley pushing herself away from her, not wanting anything to do with her best friend at the moment.

As if Sasha cared.

"See? Do you feel like you're gonna throw up?" asked Sasha, Bayley still sobbing.

"I'm sorry, Bay. I'm sorry I had to do that, honey. I don't want to ever have to force you into something, but you gotta eat, okay? Please? Will you finish the toast?" asked Sasha, placing a kiss to Bayley's hair. "Just the toast, okay? That's all I want you to eat tonight," whispered Sasha, wrapping her arms around Bayley as she started to calm down, holding the rest of the toast out to her.

Bayley still had tears in her eyes, still feeling sick. But she slowly took the toast from her friend's hand, hiccuping as she took another bite of it.

And Sasha _felt _as if she had just won a freaking war.

Sasha sighed as she watched Bayley settle into the bed, the purple haired woman lying down next to her friend.

"I'm right here, Bay. If you have a nightmare, I'm gonna be right here, okay?" whispered Sasha, tracing the bags that were still under her friends eyes; though Sasha wasn't sure if they were from a lack of sleep or all the crying….or both.

Bayled sniffled. "It hurts, Sash. Everytime I have to see him," she cried and Sasha nodded, brushing a strand of Bayley's hair away from her eyes. Charlotte and Becky had gone into the other room for the night, Sasha insisting on staying with Bayley, even though Becky had offered to given that she hadn't yet.

And whoever stayed with her was likely not going to get much sleep.

But Sasha could care less about that right now. All she cared about was somehow helping her friend through this horrible time in her life.

"It's not real, baby. He's not real, not in your dreams, okay? Just try and remember that it's just a bad dream, it's not real."

Bayley nodded miserably, snuggling closer to Sasha, burying her face into her friend's neck. Sasha could feel the hot tears hit her skin, wrapping her arms tightly around Bayley.

"I'm here, Baylz. I'm here. Just close your eyes, honey. I'm right here," coaxed Sasha, rubbing her back.

Bayley whimpered, clutching Sasha's shirt into her balled up hands as she cried, hating this. Hating the way she felt. Hating how pathetic she felt. Hating him. Hating herself.

She sobbed at the thought, heartbreaking cries escaping her exhausted body. Sasha leaned down and placed a kiss to her hair, cradling her in her arms as she cried. She whispered soft, gentle, soothing words into her friend's ear.

Sasha waited patiently, continuing to soothe Bayley, praying that she would just cry herself to sleep. It was the only way she seemed to be able to fall asleep lately.

Her heart hurt knowing the pain Bayley was in. All she wanted to do was fix it. All she wanted to do was take it away from her.

All she wanted to do was murder the man responsible for causing it in the first place.


	10. Chapter 10

_4 Days Later:_

Sasha sighed as she came out of the bathroom, hairbrush in hand, frowning as she looked over at the bed where Bayley was currently lying, eyes faced toward the wall, her body unmoving.

Becky was currently sitting with her, having been the one in this room the previous night. It had been a long and crazy week for all of the girls. Bayley still wasn't doing much better, and if anything she was getting worse.

It broke Sasha's heart, it broke all of their hearts, to see the life literally drained from their once charismatic and passionate friend. She was still struggling to sleep through the night, or the day for that matter. She refused to leave the hotel room for anything, terrified of everything and everybody that wasn't already in their adjoined rooms. She hardly ate anything still. Sasha was the only one of the girls that was willing to force feed her, and even that was a struggle now given that she had caught on to it.

Most days she wasn't even moving around, opting to just stay in bed all day and watch TV. Occasionally Sasha could convince her to play a video game or two for a little while, but she struggled to focus on any one thing for very long.

"Has she said anything yet?" asked Sasha, working on brushing out her wavy purple hair. Becky shook her head, placing a kiss to Bayley's shoulder before standing up and heading towards Sasha.

"Nope. She woke up crying a few hours ago for the third time throughout the night. I don't know what we should do, Sash. She's getting worse. We need to get her help," said Becky and Sasha nodded, hating that Becky was right. They all knew it. She wasn't talking; not to them. She wasn't eating or sleeping. It was a fight to get her to take a shower some days. Becky worried that the longer they let her hole herself up in this hotel room, the worse it would get, and the worse it would be on her in the end.

"How? She won't leave this room. I don't know what we're gonna do next week when we have to go back to work. We can't just live in this room forever. Life is gonna have to start up again some day, and I don't want to leave her behind. I can't leave her behind," whispered Sasha, letting out a deep sigh as she looked over at Bayley once again.

"I know. None of us want to do that, love. We're gonna stick by her, no matter what. We just gotta figure out what to do; how to either help her ourselves or outsource it," said Becky, glancing at the door to the other room as Charlotte walked in with some breakfast.

"Ugh, my favorite time of day," muttered Sasha, sighing as she thought about once again having to force some food down Bayley.

"Is it really gonna kill her if we just don't make her eat right now? Save that battle for lunch," said Charlotte, heading over to where Bayley was lying and sitting down, running a hand down her back.

"Hey, sweet girl," whispered Charlotte, leaning down to give the quietest one in the room a kiss to the hair. Bayley made a small noise, not turning to face her blonde haired friend.

"Compared to how broken she already is? Probably not," whispered Sasha, shrugging as she glanced at the food. "I don't know. I really don't like her skipping meals entirely. She's lost so much weight this week already…." said Sasha weakly, thinking about the bags under her friends eyes, the paleness in her face, the way her clothes were getting looser and looser on her already….

Becky sighed, glancing over at Charlotte and Bayley. "Maybe we can see if there's a therapist that's willing to come here? Talk to her here?" asked Becky, but Sasha just shrugged.

"I don't want to make it worse. I don't want to force some stranger on her right now, you know? I just...maybe I can try talking to her today? See if I can get her to open up even just a tiny bit…" said Sasha, pushing the palm of her hands to her eyes as she felt the tears burning in the back of her eyeballs.

"Sash," whispered Becky, reaching out to touch her friend's shoulder. "This doesn't have to fall on you. We can find someone to talk to her, to help her…" whispered Becky, gently rubbing her friend's shoulder, not wanting her to carry such a heavy burden.

"She went through something traumatic, love. She knows we love her. She does. She's just scared and hurt and needs some time. It's only six days. She was raped six days ago," whispered Becky, Sasha cringing at the words, licking her lips which suddenly felt really dry.

"I know. I just don't want to lose her forever, you know? I want her back. I want my friend back. I want my sister back. Is that selfish, Bex? Am I just pushing her too hard….?" questioned Sasha, Becky shaking her head, pulling Sasha into her arms for a hug, rubbing her hand gently up and down her back.

"No. Not at all, love. Not at all. That's what we all want for her, okay? And someday she will be back. But right now the best thing we can do for her is give her someone to talk to. Even if she won't talk to us. Even if it has to be a professional. Okay?"

Sasha nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. "Just...let me talk to her today, okay? Let me see….sometimes I can get her to open up, you know?" said Sasha and Becky nodded, brushing a strand of Sasha's hair out of her eyes, offering her friend a gentle smile.

"Of course love. But first….have fun trying to shove some eggs down that poor girl's throat," said Becky, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. Sasha rolled her eyes. "You know, it's easier now after four days of game plans."

Sasha sighed as she sat down at the edge of the bed, Bayley meeting her gaze for a quick second before turning her attention back to the TV that was currently on. She reached out quietly, her fingers gently stroking her friend's cheek as she tried to figure out how to do this.

"Hey, Baylz, can we talk?" asked Sasha, her fingers moving up to her friend's hairline, running her fingers through the strands of Bayley's tangled brown hair. She tried to remember the last time she had gotten her to shower. Maybe two days ago? She'd work on making sure she got a quick one in later tonight.

Bayley eyed her, still slightly annoyed about the fact that she'd made her eat breakfast earlier, and that she had taken to feeding her against her will for the last week.

"Please, baby?" I really want to talk to you, honey," whispered Sasha, placing a kiss to her friend's forehead, offering her hands for Bayley to hopefully come sit with her. It took her a beat, but she finally did, slowly climbing into Sasha's lap. Sasha smiled, wrapping her arms around Bayley's far too thin waist, one hand gently stroking her hair as Bayley snuggled up to Sasha's chest, resting her head right under her neck.

"You know I love you, honey, right? Always and forever, sister?" whispered Sasha, keeping her voice close to her friend's ear. Bayley nodded, reaching out to grasp Sasha's hand, gently playing with her friend's fingers.

"Bayley, honey, it's been a rough week for you. I hate seeing you like this, babe. It kills me to know you're hurting so bad on the inside, honey," whispered Sasha, Bayley glancing up to meet Sasha's concerned gaze, turning away.

"I'm sorry…." whispered Bayley, closing her eyes as she felt tears begin to well up. Sasha shook her head, placing a kiss to her friend's hair again.

"No. No, baby. You don't have anything to be sorry for. Honey, this is normal. So, so normal. You were hurt. He hurt you. You didn't deserve that, baby girl. It's okay to be upset or hurt or scared or just really sad, right now, Bay," said Sasha, her hand now rubbing circles on her friend's back.

"But I'm just really worried about you. And so is Charlotte and Becky. We miss you. We miss your smile and your laugh and your voice that we don't get to hear as much anymore…"

"I just….can't," whispered Bayley, her eyes pleading as she looked up at her best friend, Sasha using her thumb to wipe away a few stray tears.

"I know, baby. I know. You want to talk to me about it? Tell me what's going on in that head of yours? Like why it's so hard to eat? Or what's going on in those nightmares…."

Bayley shrugged, still fidgeting with Sasha's fingers. "No. I can't. I...it hurts too much," whispered Bayley, taking a shaky breath, trying not to start sobbing...again.

Sasha closed her eyes, reopening them before continuing. "Love….please, talk to me? Or talk to someone else? Maybe like a therapist or someone. It might be easier to talk to them than Becca or Charlotte or I…." offered Sasha, hating when she saw Bayley cringing at the word therapist.

"I don't want to talk to a stranger. I don't….no. I don't want to," whispered Bayley, starting to whine.

Sasha sighed. "Baylz, therapy could help you, darling. It could help you figure out what's going inside that head of yours. It could help you start to feel better...start to sleep again, or eat again, or help you get out of this depression…"

"I don't want to talk. What if they tell me I can't be fixed? What if they put me on medication? What if-

"What if you start to feel better? What if you start to sleep again without having nightmares? What if you don't have to held against your will just to get some food in you…." offered Sasha, pointing out the positives.

Bayley broke down, starting to sob. Sasha knew it was coming. She had been prepared for it. She gently tightened her grip, rocking her friend back and forth as she cried.

"Honey, you need to talk. You can talk to me or Charlotte or Becca or all three of us…..or you can talk to a therapist. But you need to talk, babe. You need to talk so you can start feeling better…."

Bayley continued to cry, wrapping her arms around Sasha's neck as she did so, her friend closing her eyes as she continued to comfort her friend. _Great. Therapy. Another thing she was going to have to force Bayley to do._


	11. Chapter 11

"NO! I don't want to talk to someone!"

Sasha sighed as Bayley began to sob, a reaction they all kind of expected upon telling her that they had found a therapist for her to talk to that would come to the room.

"Bay, honey?" questioned Charlotte, sitting down at the edge of the bed, reaching out to comfort her friend but stopping when Bayley cringed. "Bayley, all she's gonna do is talk to you, sweetie. It's just talking, honey. That's all."

Bayled choked on her own sobs, rolling over so her face was buried in a pillow. The sound of her crying was breaking the hearts of the three women currently occupying the room.

Sasha reached out, carefully lying down on the bed, propping herself up on her one arm while using the other to reach and stroke Bayley's hair, the younger of the two keeping her lips close to Bayley.

"Bayley, honey, I hate seeing you so sad, baby. I miss you, love. Why don't you want to talk to a therapist, sweetheart? Tell me what's going on in that head of yours," whispered Sasha, rubbing her friend's back all over, fearful for how hard Bayley was crying right now.

"I'm right here, baby. I'm here. You can tell me anything, honey. Always."

Bayley continued to cry in her pillow, rejecting all forms of comfort from her friends. Sasha refused to budge though. She didn't care if Bayley cried all day and night until tomorrow when the therapist was to get here. She knew her friend was broken. She knew this was the right thing to do. She didn't care if Bayley hated them all in the end. This was going to help her, whether she realized it right now or not.

Bayley whimpered into the pillow, rolling over onto her back. She wasn't sure what time it was. She wasn't sure how long she had been crying. She wasn't even sure where her friends had gone to.

Her friends.

Bayley quickly scanned the spacious hotel room, noting that nobody was currently around. Had they actually left her? Had they given up on her? She had screamed and cried when they told her about a therapist coming to the room tomorrow. She didn't want to talk. She couldn't talk. It hurt too much to talk about. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like when she actually heard the feelings she currently felt on the inside out loud. She didn't want to find out.

And eating and sleeping were irrelevant right now. None of it mattered. Taking care of herself didn't matter. There was nothing to take care of. Batista had made sure of that. He had taken every little part of her. Everything she loved. Everything she was. Everything she used to be or ever could be. He took it all. And left her with nothing. So it didn't matter if she took care of herself or not.

Bayley could feel the tears streaming down her face, and she drew her knees up to her chest, her method of choice when it came to trying to block out all the bad feelings inside of her. She squeezed her eyes shut, small, quiet, sobs escaping her lips. Her friends had left her. They realized she was a lost cause. They realized what she had realized a week ago. She didn't matter anymore. The old her that Sasha and Becky and Charlotte kept saying they wanted back was lost somewhere in the back of Dave Batista's car, and they had decided they didn't like this new her. So they left. She didn't really blame them, honestly.

But just thinking the thoughts made her cry even harder. It was the first time since she had come back to the hotel room that night that she had been left alone, and she didn't like the feeling. Not even slightly.

"Bayley? Honey, what is it? What's wrong, baby girl?"

Charlotte quickly entered in through the other room, having heard her friend's cries through the partially closed door. She quickly sat down on the bed, not sure if Bayley would allow her to comfort her, but refusing to allow her to cry alone.

Bayley sobbed even harder at the sound of Charlotte's voice, clutching at her knees as she rocked herself back and forth. Charlotte gently touched her friend's back, rubbing small circles in the middle of it to try and calm her down, fearful that she was going to cry herself sick any minute now.

"Come on baby girl, come here, honey. Just let me hold you, okay?" whispered Charlotte, surprised when Bayley suddenly through her arms around her neck, clinging tightly.

Charlotte gently accepted the hug, wrapping her arms around her friend, cradling her head in her hand as she rocked her back and forth, placing a kiss to her hair.

"What is it, honey? What's wrong? Talk to me," whispered Charlotte, continuing to hold her heartbroken friend in her arms.

"I thought you left me, Charlie. I thought you and Becca and Sasha didn't love me anymore," cried Bayley, choking once more.

Charlotte closed her eyes, tightening her grip on her friend. "Never, baby. We will never leave you, my love. Not now. Not ever, okay?" whispered Charlotte, Bayley nodding slightly, slowly starting to calm down.

"Sasha and Becky went to go get some dinner, baby girl. You hungry?" asked Charlotte, knowing Bayley would say no, but figuring it was worth a shot. The girl hadn't eaten in the last 24 hours, which wasn't uncommon nowadays.

Bayley shook her head, pulling herself further against Charlotte, closing her eyes as she listened to the sound of her friend's beating heart, wishing she could feel that alive again.

* * *

Sasha ran a hand through her hair wearily, exhausted beyond belief. She knew therapy wasn't going to fix everything tomorrow, but she couldn't wait until it fixed something, anything, at this point. Even the smallest of things.

She just wanted to see her friend _start_ to move on. Because right now she was not. At all. Even close.

Sasha had spent the last five hours, albeit her friend's were obviously helping, but a part of her still felt like she was fighting with Bayley alone. It had been yet another night of battles trying to get her best friend to eat and shower and even just close her eyes. Sasha was exhausted from it all. Physically and mentally exhausted.

And she had no idea why she was even complaining because no matter what she was feeling, Bayley was clearly feeling it three thousand times worse.

And it was killing Sasha every second she had to sit here and watch her friend suffer.

Because it was all her fault.

All of this was her fault. She should never have left Bayley that night. She should never have agreed to let her stay on her own. It was late that night. The arena had been half empty already when Sasha left. There was no reason for Bayley to have been there on her own.

But Sasha had left anyways.

She had left and her friend had paid the ultimate price.

And now she was scared that she would never get her friend back, at least not the same friend that had been there with her last week before this all went down.

"Sash? You okay, hun?"

Sasha snapped out of her thoughts, glancing up at Becky and offering her friend a small smile. "Yeah, just tired. Anxious about Bayley and the therapist tomorrow, I guess."

Becky nodded, wrapping her arms around Sasha from behind, placing a kiss to her friend's cheek.

"She's gonna be okay, Sash. Promise. It'll just take some time, but she's gonna get there, and talking to a therapist is going to help."

Sasha nodded, turning around and wrapping her arms around Becky. "I know. Thanks, darling."

* * *

Sasha sat with Bayley on the couch, keeping her close as the time for the therapist to get there inched closer and closer. She gently kissed the top of her friend's head, and then her forehead.

"You're gonna be alright, love. I promise," whispered Sasha, Bayley shaking her head. "I don't wanna talk to a stranger."

Sasha sighed, gently rubbing her hand up and down her friend's back. "I know, baby. I know. I'm here, my love. I'm right here."

"Don't leave me alone. Please don't make me talk to her alone," cried Bayley, feeling her breathing start to intensify, Sasha sending a panicked look to Charlotte and Becky, who quickly jumped in to help.

"I'm not ready. I'm not ready! Please, don't make me!" cried Bayley, swallowing hard as she struggled to breath.

"Bayley, Bayley, look at me. Look right here, love," whispered Becky, lifting her friend's tearful and panicked gaze to meet her own calm one.

"Just relax. Take a big, deep breath, okay? We're right here, okay? But we can't be here when the therapist is talking to you. You need to do that alone, alright? We'll be in the other room, but you need to talk to her alone. Understand?" asked Becky softly, Bayley shaking her head.

"I don't want to do this!" cried Bayley, throwing herself onto the couch, kicking at Sasha as she tried to reach for her, not caring when she heard her friend curse out loud as Bayley's foot connected with her stomach.

"Bayley! Stop. We are not doing this to hurt you, baby girl," stated Charlotte, kneeling down next to the couch, putting her hand on Bayley's back as her friend started all out sobbing and screaming.

"Bayley, this is _why_ you need to talk to this therapist. So you can get all these emotions out and start figuring out what's going on in that head of yours," said Becky, kneeling down next to Charlotte.

"No! No! NO! I'm not talking! You can't make me! You can't!" screamed Bayley, shoving herself off of the couch. Charlotte grabbed her before she could make it very far, Bayley letting out a high pitched scream as she struggled to get out of her friend's grasp, flailing her arms and legs.

"Bayley! Enough!" yelled Sasha, hating that she had to raise her voice to her friend, but not wanting this to turn into a full blown temper tantrum.

Bayley struggled against her friends restraints, sobbing and screaming against them as she tried to break free, her breaths coming out in short gasps in between sobs and screams.

Charlotte closed her eyes as she continued to tighten her grip on Bayley, Becky trying to tame her legs that were still kicking at everything and everyone.

"Let me go! Let me go!" moaned Bayley, her arms completely trapped now by Charlotte, the taller blonde managing to get herself into a sitting position, using her legs now to trap Bayley's legs, one arm wrapped tightly around her friend's arms and waist, her other holding her head back against her chest.

"Shh. Shh. Shh. Just let it out, Bay. Let it out, honey," whispered Charlotte, Bayley still struggling in her arms, moaning through her tears.

"I don't w-w-wan-want t-t-to ta-tal-talk. P-P-Please don-don't m-m-m-ma-ma-make m-m-m-me," she gasped, struggling to get her words out as she continued to struggle to calm herself down.

Charlotte kept her hold on Bayley, gently stroking back her now sweat soaked hair, whispering gentle, soothing words into her friends ear as her tears continued to take over, soft, quiet moans, escaping her lips as Charlotte tried to get her to take deeper breaths.

Charlotte could hear her friend still moaning, though she wasn't struggling against her anymore.

"All better, honey?" asked Charlotte quietly, Bayley taking a shaky breath, a small, weak, whimper escaping her lips.

Bayley nodded slowly, her body nearly limp in Charlotte's arms. Charlotte gently loosened her grip, Bayley nearly collapsing into her. "I feel tired," whispered Bayley, turning herself so she was on her side, Charlotte placing a kiss to her forehead.

"I bet. That took a lot out of you, love," whispered Becky, rubbing her thigh.

"I just wanna sleep," whispered Bayley, Charlotte shaking her head.

"I know, babe. But you gotta talk to this therapist first, okay? Just give it a chance, babe. Just once and see what it does," explained Charlotte, holding her breath. She hadn't realized Bayley would react with such intensity over this therapist coming to talk to her. But she should have. She should have known. She had been fighting this therapist thing since they told her about it.

A knock on the door snapped them all out of their thoughts, and nearly sent Bayley into another panic attack.

Charlotte tightened her grip on her once more, trying to keep her from running, as Sasha went to answer the door, speaking in a hushed tone to the therapist before moving out of the way for her to come in.

Charlotte sighed, hesitant to let go of Bayley, terrified that she would try to run or something equally crazy. She wasn't normally this….aggressive.

"Baylz? Come on, baby, we're gonna go to the other room, okay? You'll be alright, I promise," whispered Charlotte, placing Bayley back on the couch. The younger woman instantly drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms tightly around them as she buried her face into her knees, starting to cry once again.

"Maybe we should-

Charlotte cut off Sasha, pulling her towards the other room. "No. She has to do this alone, Sash. She'll be fine," said Charlotte, Becky already at the door.

The therapist offered a reassuring smile to all three girls, sitting down on the couch next to Bayley, Charlotte practically dragging Sasha away from the room.

Charlotte shut the door, locking it from their side in case Bayley did try to bolt. Becky was lying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I've never seen her like that before," whispered Becky, Sasha swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Me either."


	12. Chapter 12

_4 Days Later:_

"We have to start thinking about our next steps."

Becky, Charlotte, and Sasha were currently in the second room while Bayley completed her third therapy session. She was still struggling through them, but she was at least a willing participant during them, which was better than it had been for the first two sessions.

"I know. Hunter is expecting us back at work in two days. We still have to figure out Bayley….and us. She is nowhere near ready to be left alone or go back to work," said Becky, running a hand through her wavy reddish orange hair.

"And we need to figure out Batista. That Bastard needs to die for everything he did to Bayley," said Sasha, glaring as she said his name.

Charlotte shook her head, sighing. "Is it bad that I just want to protect her from everything? That I just want to keep her in this hotel room forever until she's better?"

"She might never get better if we do that," muttered Sasha, falling backwards on the bed. "How are we even going to get her to leave the room? She hasn't left since...since she saw him out that day."

"I don't know, talk to the therapist? See if she has any ideas? We need to figure it out by tomorrow at the latest. We're supposed to be at Raw day after tomorrow...and technically, so is Bayley."

A knock on the door snapped them all out of their conversation, Charlotte standing up to answer it, smiling as the therapist walked in.

"Is everything okay? Is Bayley okay?" asked Charlotte, the therapist nodding.

"Yeah, Bayley is fine. She talked today and I think she's making a little bit of progress. I just wanted to check in with you guys and make sure that you guys were seeing progress with her as well when I'm not here."

"Oh...um...actually, it's a good thing you're here because we did want to talk to you about something…." said Becky, sighing. "We're supposed to be back at work on Monday...and so is Bayley, technically. It's been two weeks. We're not really sure how to...do that, right now, with her…"

The therapist nodded, contemplating the situation. "Yeah. I don't think that she's ready for that either. My suggestion would be to talk to her about it, tell her that it's happening, and see about her being able to take extended leave for now given what's going on. She is just starting to open about things, but right now it's very minimal and the progress she's making is very small. It's going to take time to reintroduce her to normal life. I'll keep working with her through skype like we talked about but it's just gonna take some time."

"And travel? She hasn't left this hotel room in two weeks…"

"She can. She will. Especially if you guys are with her. Just take small steps with her, okay? She can handle a lot more than you think. Make sure she knows what's happening ahead of time and try to prepare her the best you can. And I will too during our sessions.

The trio continued their conversation with the therapist, surprised that Bayley hadn't freaked out about being left alone in the room for so long. As soon as the therapist left, Sasha bolted to the other room; panic rising through her when she noticed Bayley was not in the room.

"What the- where the hell did she go?!"

Charlotte and Becky came running in, scanning the room. "Holy shit," muttered Becky, fear rising through her.

And then all three of them stopped dead in their tracks when they heard the shower running.

"Is she…..is she actually taking a shower? On her own?" asked Charlotte, a smile quickly appearing on her lips at the thought.

"Oh, thank God," muttered Sasha, falling onto the couch, sighing in relief. "Maybe her therapist was right. Maybe she is making progress…." said Becky, Sasha nodding at the thought.

"I hope so."

Sasha offered Bayley a gentle smile upon exiting the bathroom; both Becky and Charlotte having run out to go get some food for dinner; all three of them praying beyond belief that maybe Bayley would actually eat tonight.

Bayley's thick brown hair was still down, wearing one of Sasha's oversized Legit Boss T-shirt and a pair of loose sweatpants. Her eyes were still hesitant, shy even, but she still returned Sasha's smile.

"Hey, pretty girl. Come over here," said Sasha, opening her arms for Bayley, the older woman sighing before settling down in her friend's lap, Sasha wrapping her arms around Bayley.

"I love you so, so, much, sweet girl," whispered Sasha, placing a kiss to Bayley's covered shoulder. Bayley shrugged, ducking her head.

"It was just a shower, Sash," whispered Bayley, but even she knew what Sasha saw; progress. She had successfully made it through an entire shower on her own without once freaking out.

Progress.

And maybe, eventually, she hoped, other things would just happen like the shower did and things would start to go back to normal. Maybe.

"You know I think we need to talk, my love, about what we're gonna do next," said Sasha, gently stroking back Bayley's still wet hair.

Bayley nodded, leaning in to Sasha's touch. "I know," she stated simply, closing her eyes.

"Hello?"

Bayley looked up as Charlotte and Becky entered the room, carrying a couple bags of food. Sasha squeezed her a little tighter, placing a kiss to her hair. "You think you can try eating tonight?" whispered Sasha, Bayley glancing down at her fingers, knowing how proud Sasha had been that she had simply showered on her own, but knowing how much it hurt still to mix food with the anxiety that constantly sat in the pit of her stomach.

"Bayley, baby, please don't make me have to force you to eat something tonight, love. Please? Please, try?" begged Sasha, Bayley chewing on her bottom lip, tears forming in her eyes…

"Hey, Bay? We brought some sushi and miso soup….your favorite…." offered Becky, setting the food out on the coffee table.

Bayley glanced at Sasha, struggling with the anxiety rolling deep throughout her entire stomach as she stared at the food on the table. _Just a couple bites. Just try to take a couple bites._

She could hear it, that voice inside of her, telling her, screaming at her, telling her to stop being crazy and just eat the food herself. _It doesn't matter, Either you eat or Sasha shoves it down your throat….it doesn't matter. You're going to have to eat it either way. _

"Baylz?"

It wasn't until she felt Charlotte's hand touching her cheek that Bayley realized she was crying. Tears streaming freely down her cheek. Just shy of sobbing.

"Oh, honey. Oh, sweetheart. Come here, baby. Come here, love," whispered Sasha, pulling Bayley back to her, holding her tightly against her, rocking her gently.

"I can't. I can't, Sasha. I can't eat. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" cried Bayley, choking on her sobs as she cried.

"Baby, it's been 36 hours since we've made you eat anything...you have to, love," whispered Sasha, wanting to cry herself. She hated forcing Bayley to do anything. And right now it was breaking her heart even more because she had showered by herself. She had showered by herself and yet, here she was, still refusing to eat….and Sasha had no idea why.

Charlotte grimaced at the idea, wondering if shoving food down Bayley's throat was making her better or worse. Tonight she worried that it would make it worse. Tonight Bayley had had a breakthrough with that shower. Would she even recognize that if they did this to her tonight?

"Come on Bay, you gotta eat, love. You gotta eat honey. I'm sorry," whispered Sasha, Bayley letting out an ear piercing scream as Sasha shifted in her arms, Charlotte handing her a piece of Sushi.

"Come on baby, just a piece, come on," said Sasha, Bayley struggling in her friend's grip, thrashing her body around, as Sasha shoved the sushi towards her mouth, Charlotte helping to pry Bayley's mouth open as Sasha forced it in.

Bayley sobbed, choking on the fish and rice as Sasha placed her hand over her mouth, not allowing her to spit it out.

"Chew and swallow, Bay. Chew and swallow," whispered Sasha, Charlotte handing her another piece of sushi.

"At least four pieces, baby. It's been too long," muttered Sasha, placing a kiss to her distraught friend's hair.

Bayley continued to sob, choking through her tears and on the food as Sasha and Charlotte continued to force her to eat, Bayley gagging on the fish and the anxiety that was now coursing through her entire body.

"Stop. Please, stop," cried Bayley as she chewed the second piece. "Please. I showered. I took a shower! Please, stop doing this to me!" cried Bayley, moaning in agony, the pain in her stomach almost too much to bear….

Charlotte closed her eyes, wanting so badly to just be done with it. She was too upset about it tonight. There was too much pain in her eyes over it tonight….Charlotte couldn't handle it.

"Okay, darling. Okay, no more," whispered Charlotte, Sasha sighing. Though it didn't matter. She was feeling the same way. Bayley had made progress with that shower. And she and Charlotte probably just ruined it with forcing her to eat tonight.

As soon as Sasha released her grip, Bayley ran over to the bed, collapsing onto it as she buried her face into the pillow, sobbing unrelentlessly, continuously gagging now. And all three girls worried that she would actually make herself sick tonight.

Becky went over to her, silently sitting down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to rub her friend's back.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry," she whispered, patting her gently in hopes of getting her to stop gagging so much.

Bayley tried to speak, but couldn't. Instead she continued to cry harder and harder, Becky now lying down next to her, continuing to rub her back, concern rolling through her as she realized that the depth of the crying was not slowing down.

"Try and breathe, Bayley. Slow down just a little, honey, okay? Nice deep breaths," continued Becky, keeping her voice soft and gentle, rubbing her hand all over Bayley's back.

Bayley moaned as she started coming back down, clutching at her stomach as she rolled onto her side, whimpering as she tried to get closer to Becky. Becky gently helped her pull herself closer, Bayley clutching at her pants.

"What is it, Bay? What's wrong?" whispered Becky, gently stroking her friend's hair. "Is your stomach hurting, baby?" she asked, Bayley nodding weakly.

And Becky thought she might just murder Charlotte and Sasha for not listening when Bayley told them that in the first place. Damn fools.

Sasha watched the scene unfold, quietly walking into the other room and shutting the door. She allowed herself to fall to the ground quietly, burying her face in her hands as she cried.

It was always her causing Bayley pain. It was always her hurting her. Just like it had been her who left her that night.


	13. Chapter 13

Raw: 2 Days Later:

Sasha glanced over at Bayley; her friend's fingers fidgeting nervously with the hem of her shirt, her brown hair left down and covering her far too pale face. Bayley jumped at the feel of Sasha reaching out to calm her nervous hands, letting out a shaky breath as the two women pulled up to the arena.

"You can do this, Bay. I know you can," whispered Sasha, Bayley glancing down once more, wishing she had the same amount of confidence in herself that Sasha seemed to have.

"I don't even know what to say," she whispered, trying, and failing, to keep her nerves in check.

Sasha offered her a gentle smile, offering Bayley her hand as she helped her friend from the car. "That's okay. It'll come to you, love. Just try and breathe," whispered Sasha, guiding Bayley from the car to the arena.

* * *

Bayley stood outside of Steph and Hunter's office at the arena that night, wishing more than anything that Sasha had come with her, but knowing, deep down, that she needed to do this on her own.

The young woman paced back and forth across the floor, counting the tiles silently in her head as she did so. _Just breathe. Just keep breathing. Don't stop breathing._

"Bayley?"

Bayley jumped out of her skin at the sound of a voice, forgetting all about the pacing and the stupid tiles on the ground as her breathing quickly escalated. What had she been thinking telling Sasha she needed to do this alone? She hadn't spoken to another human being outside of Sasha, Charlotte, and Becky, in two weeks, and now, here she was, alone and talking to her boss about something she couldn't even talk to _her friends or therapist_ about yet?

This had to be the dumbest decision ever. Right next to staying back at that arena by herself two weeks ago.

And that thought was enough to make her want to cry.

Bayley glanced up, swallowing hard when her eyes met the concerned gaze of Stephanie McMahon. She blinked back the tears that were already threatening to fall; she was so sick of crying.

"I….I need to….talk to you...and Hunter…." whispered Bayley, her words spilling out on top of each other, her nerves and anxiety a jumbled mess.

Stephanie nodded, opening the door wider as Bayley entered the room, her lack of eye contact not lost on Stephanie. And...had she lost weight?

Stephanie continued to take in Bayley's appearance; the clothes that seemed way too baggy on her, the paleness in her face and hollowed out eyes that Stephanie had seen in the mere glimpse of her face that Bayley had offered.

Hunter looked up from his desk, his smile at the sight of Bayley quickly turning into a frown when he saw what Stephanie was also seeing; what looked like the ghost of a woman he considered to be a daughter to him.

"Bayley? Honey, what's going on?" asked Stephanie, offering Bayley a seat in one of the spare chairs in the small office space.

Bayley refused to meet the gaze of either of her bosses, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to come up with words to say. She should have asked Sasha to come. She shouldn't have told her not to. She needed her. She needed her comfort. She needed her support. She couldn't do this alone. She wasn't ready. Not even close.

"Bayley."

It was Hunter's voice that she heard now, and it was closer to her than Stephanie's had been. He was standing in front of her now, towering over her. Bayley could feel her entire body starting to tremble. The last time a man had been this close to her….

"No! No, I can't….I can't…...I can't….."

Her breathing was starting to intensify, her brain not thinking of the words she needed to say fast enough. Hunter caught wind of what was about to happen, dropping to his knees in front of a nearly panicked Bayley.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay. You're okay. It's just Steph and I, Bayley. Talk to us. What's going on?"

He reached out to touch her, stopping when Bayley flinched at the sight, casually placing his hand back to his side.

"Bayley, honey, what is it? Whatever it is, you can talk to us…." stated Stephanie, still keeping her distance, not wanting to crowd the frightened woman. "Do you want me to call Sasha?"

"No! Yes….I don't...I don't know," whispered Bayley, hating herself for starting to cry.

Hunter couldn't stop himself this time. He ignored Bayley's flinch as he reached out to touch her hair, gently pushing a stray strand away. "Take your time, Bayley. Just gather your thoughts. You're here. That was clearly a big step, okay? Just slow down and think about what you want to do next," he whispered, keeping his voice as soft as he could, regardless of the fact that he had no clue was actually going on. The last time he had seen, or not even seen, Bayley, was when he had given her as well as Sasha, Becky, and Charlotte, time off to help her through whatever it was Sasha and Charlotte had convinced him she needed help with. And clearly, they had not been wrong given the state she was currently in two weeks later.

"I….I need some….time….off," whispered Bayley after a few moments of silence, her voice barely audible even to Hunter who was now kneeling in front of her.

"Okay….that's a start. Can you tell me what's going on?" asked Hunter, Bayley licking her suddenly dry lips, beginning to feel slightly lightheaded. She ignored the sound of her stomach growling, a sound she was used to by now. It had been two days since Sasha had forced her to eat that Sushi, and she hadn't forced Bayley to eat since….

And now Bayley was starting to regret not eating anything since.

"Bayley, honey, the last time we saw you was the night of SummerSlam. Did something happen that night?" asked Stephanie, Bayley letting out a dry laugh. _Yeah, something._

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just….I…."

Hunter shook his head, reaching for Bayley's hand, using his much larger one to gently stroke her knuckles. This poor girl was falling apart. She looked so pale, far too pale, and the bags under her eyes were breaking Hunter's heart, like she hadn't slept in days. And he wondered if the same went for eating….

He wanted to help. He wanted so badly to help. But he had no idea what was going on or what it was she even needed help with. But it was evident she needed help. Possibly some help that he couldn't provide as well.

"Come on honey, just talk to us. I swear, whatever it is, we can help you…." whispered Hunter, keeping Bayleys hand in his own.

Bayley broke down into sobs, drawing her knees up to her chest, wrapping her frail arms around them as she continued to cry, her hair curtaining her face. Hunter watched with sadness and concern in his eyes, glancing up at his wife whose expression matched his own. What on earth had happened to this girl?

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she repeated, beginning to rock herself back and forth, her words escaping her lips in between choked out sobs.

"Bayley, honey, we can't help if you don't tell us what it is that happened, sweetie," said Stephanie, now also kneeling down next to the broken superstar, her hand reaching out to gently rub Bayley's back.

"He came out of nowhere. I told him I wasn't comfortable. I-I-I asked him to-to l-l-l-lea-lea-leave," whispered Bayley, as if she was defending herself, her arms wrapped so tightly around her legs they were practically cutting off circulation.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault. It's….it's m-m-my f-fa-fault. I-I-I sh-sh-shouldn't have-have s-s-s-st-stayed be-be-behind. I-

Stephanie frowned, continuing to rub the distraught girl's back, just wanting to calm her down somehow, although she was beginning to feel like whatever was going on was something she was not going to like, and by the looks on Hunter's face, he was beginning to feel the same way as well.

"Baby girl, what is it? What do you think is your fault?" whispered Hunter, still stroking back her hair, hating how much she was falling apart, fearful that she was going to hyperventilate or make herself sick with how anxious she was at the moment.

Stephanie looked up at the sound of a noise coming from the doorway, noticing for the first time that Sasha was currently standing in the doorway, tears in her eyes, and Stephanie wondered how long she had been standing there. She nodded towards Bayley, Sasha immediately entering the room. Stephanie stepped away as the purple haired woman stepped in, taking her place as she placed a kiss to Bayley's shoulder. Bayley looked up, a fresh batch of tears filling her eyes as her brown eyes met Sasha's concerned gaze.

"It's okay, Bay. You can tell them. You can do this, honey," whispered Sasha, placing her hand underneath Bayley's shirt, knowing the skin to skin contact was sometimes more helpful for her friend to calm down.

"He pulled me into his car," whispered Bayley, still crying, avoiding the gaze of anybody in the room. "He….he….he…."

Bayley couldn't do it. She couldn't get the words out of her mouth. She broke down in sobs once more, and Stephanie and Hunter had a sinking feeling they didn't need to hear the rest. Hunter couldn't resist. He pulled Bayley into his arms, shifting himself so she was in his lap, rocking her slightly as she cried.

"Just breathe, honey. Just breathe," whispered Hunter, keeping his voice close to Bayley's ear. The younger female struggled with the task, choking on her sobs, her entire body shaking under his touch. Sasha winced at the sight, knowing how prone Bayley had been the last couple weeks to these awful panic attacks, the ones that just took everything out of her, that left her with nothing…..

Stephanie touched Sasha's shoulder, motioning her to step away for a moment. Sasha obliged, eyeing Bayley, whom Hunter was still just trying to get her to breathe, before turning her attention towards Stephanie.

"Has it been this bad for the last two weeks?" asked Stephanie, Sasha nodding slightly.

"Pretty much….she doesn't sleep a whole lot, or eat, and the panic attacks are pretty much daily still…." whispered Sasha, swallowing the tears that were threatening to fall.

"Sasha…." whispered Stephanie, glancing over at Bayley. "What happened? I...I think I know, but…."

Sasha shrugged, glancing at the floor. "I can't say…..I….it's not my place to," said Sasha, Stephanie nodding in understanding, not needing a confirmation on what she was already guessing based on what little information Bayley had provided.

"When?" asked Stephanie, closing her eyes, feeling nauseous as she thought about the possibility of someone doing what she feared had happened, to Bayley.

"The night of Summerslam, after the show."

Stephanie swallowed hard, so many questions running through her mind, but Sasha was already heading back towards Bayley, falling to her knees as she once more placed her hand on her back.

"You're okay, honey. You're alright," whispered Sasha, Bayley quickly crawling into her arms, wrapping her arms around her friend's neck, her body nearly limp against hers.

"Bay, honey?"

Bayley let out a small, gurgled, moan, whimpering as she felt a wave of dizziness hit her, leaning her head against her best friend. Sasha tightened her grip, helping Bayley to her feet, her eyes widening when she struggled to stay on her feet.

"Bayley? What's going on?" asked Sasha softly, her friend slowly shaking her head. "I don't feel so good," she muttered, Hunter standing behind Bayley as she continued swaying in Sasha's arms.

And before Sasha could respond, she felt her friend's weight crashing against her, just barely catching her in her arms as she passed out.


	14. Chapter 14

Bayley groaned groggily, moaning as her eyes slowly reopened, squinting against the light shining down in her eyes.

"She's awake. Bayley? Bay, can you hear me?"

Sasha.

Bayley turned her head away from the doctor shining a flashlight in her eyes, her eyes focusing on her distraught friend sitting next to her.

"Welcome back," smiled Sasha, reaching out to touch her cheek.

Bayley frowned, taking a deep breath. "What happened?" she muttered, trying to sit up. Sasha helped ease her into a sitting position, brushing the stray hair from her eyes. "You collapsed, baby girl. You've been out for about ten minutes."

Bayley moaned again, leaning heavily against Sasha. "I feel dizzy," she whispered, Sasha nodding slightly, wrapping her arms around her waist.

"It's because you're not eating, Bayley, and you're not sleeping like you should be. Honey, I know that you are upset. I know you are hurting deep down inside of you and it's painful to think about it, but baby, you need to start taking care of your body and your mind."

Bayley turned away from Sasha, closing her eyes. She hated who she had become. She hated the crying. She hated feeling weak and pathetic. She hated that Batista had taken every last piece of her and left her with this shell of the person she had once been.

"Hey, look who's awake."

Bayley looked up at the sound of Hunter's voice entering the room, letting out a shaky breath as he approached the medical bench she was currently sitting up on, Stephanie following closely behind.

Bayley curled herself back into Sasha's arm, her friend sighing as she shared a glance with her bosses.

"Welcome back, Bayley," said Stephanie softly, sitting down next to Bayley, who struggled to maintain eye contact with her.

"I'm sorry," whispered Bayley, her voice barely above a whisper and nobody would have even heard her had they not been sitting right next to her.

Hunter sighed, wanting to reach out to the distraught superstar, but deciding against it as she already seemed skittish enough around he and his wife.

"Bayley, you are not well. You've lost way too much weight in only two weeks and you look like you haven't been sleeping much either. The doctors are saying you passed out from exhaustion….and I'm guessing possibly malnutrition…..what is going on with you?"

She was trapped. She had no way out. She had to say something. She couldn't keep putting herself through this. She didn't want to relive the nightmare that had been plaguing her for two weeks. She just wanted it all to end….but it wouldn't. It wouldn't end if she just kept it bottled up inside of her like she had been. She needed to release it. She needed to let it go. She needed to start helping herself…..as much as it terrified her to try. She couldn't keep putting her friends through this nightmare too. It wasn't their nightmare to live.

Bayley glanced up at Sasha, who offered her a reassuring smile, but refusing to let her out of this. She needed this. She needed to get the time off and she needed to start taking care of herself. If she could survive with Sasha doing it all for her, she would, but that wasn't possible.

"It happened at SummerSlam...a-af-after the show," whispered Bayley, squeezing her eyes shut, the images flashing through her mind. Tears began to leak from her closed eyes, but she refused to stop. She had to get this out.

"He….I stayed later...I...I shouldn't have...I...I should have gone back to the hotel with Sasha...I….

"This was not your fault, Bayley," said Sasha, cutting her off before she took any of the blame away from the man who deserved it all. She knew Bayley needed to tell her story, but she refused to allow her friend to continue blaming herself.

Especially when Sasha was already partly blaming herself for not staying with her in the first place. A guilt that hadn't left the pit of her stomach in two weeks.

"What was it, Bayley? What happened?" asked Stephanie gently, her voice filled with concern.

"I said no! I said no! I tried to get away. He- He- He wouldn't l-l-let me!" cried Bayley, starting to sob as she tried desperately to get the words out, but couldn't. She couldn't bring herself to say the words. She couldn't bring herself to say out loud that he had….

And Sasha wondered if she had ever said the words out loud. Or if they had just been saying it for her….

Sasha realized that the latter was true. Bayley had never actually said the words out loud. She had never said she was raped. The first time it had been Becky who asked her. She had never actually said the word to them.

And now she was about to force Bayley to tell it to her bosses clearly when she wasn't ready….

Bayley wrapped her arms around her legs, crying into pants. Sasha couldn't do it. She couldn't force Bayley to do this. She wasn't ready. She needed more time.

"Please don't make her say it," whispered Sasha, caving in….again. Thankful that Bayley couldn't hear her over her tears. Stephanie and Hunter both had tears in their eyes as they watched Bayley continuing to cry, not needing to hear the word to know what had happened to her that night.

Stephanie just nodded, at a loss for words. She wanted to know who. Who would do this to someone? She wasn't naive. Of course it happened. It happened every day. But the thought of it happening at an arena after hours to one of her female talents…. It made her feel physically sick to her stomach.

"Take her home, Sasha. That's what she needs right now, and we can give that to her. And you as well. I don't want her to be alone and I know that you and Charlotte and Becky will take good care of her for the time being….until she's ready to come back…" said Hunter, pulling Sasha aside.

"Hunter, you don't….you don't need to do that. I mean, yes, she needs time off, and I appreciate you giving it to me as well, but I know how hard it will be on you guys if you lose all four of us…." said Sasha, thankful that he was offering, because Lord knew she caved too easily when it came to Bayley, but knowing the offer would be a huge hardship on the company. "I don't even know when she'll be ready to come back…."

"You let us worry about that, okay? Nobody should ever go through what she went through…we'll call you if anything changes and you call us if she needs anything. Even if it's help finding someone in Austin for her to talk to, if she's ready for that…." said Stephanie, Sasha nodding slightly.

"Thanks, Steph. And Hunter. That...that means a lot to me and it's gonna help her a lot still having us around," said Sasha, Hunter nodding, offering Sasha a hug.

"Just take care of her, okay?" he stated, Sasha nodding. "Always."

"Sash?" questioned Stephanie, Sasha turning back around to face the older woman.

"Who did it?"

Sasha closed her eyes. She knew she really shouldn't tell them that, that was Bayley's story to tell. But a part of her….a part of her was selfish and wanted to tell.

If only because everything she wasn't capable of doing to him, of everything she had dreamed endlessly for the last two weeks of doing, were all things that Stephanie and Hunter _could _do to him.

And she wanted him to suffer.

She wanted him to feel it.

She wanted him to be as miserable, as broken, and in as much pain as, if not more pain than, Bayley herself was currently in.

She never wanted him to see daylight again.

She never wanted to see him on TV again.

Hunter looked at Bayley as another daughter. Sasha knew it, because he looked at her the same way. She knew that the second that name escaped her lips, it would be over for him. Everything would be gone.

And Sasha wanted that more than anything else in the world right now.

She glanced over at Bayley, chewing on her bottom lip as she listened to her friend continue to cry, knowing the long road she still had ahead of her.

And knowing that she and Charlotte and Becky would make sure that she came out of this alive and hopefully, maybe, someday in the future, she would be somewhat of the person she was three weeks ago.

But she never wanted him to have that same opportunity.

She glanced back at Hunter and Stephanie, licking her lips before letting out a deep sigh, knowing what she had to do in order to get some kind of justice for Bayley, whether this was what she would do or not. The old saying ask for forgiveness later.

"Batista."


	15. Chapter 15

2 Weeks Later:

Charlotte looked up from the book she was reading as Bayley walked into the living room, her hair still wet from the shower she had just been taking. It had been two weeks since the foursome had been granted time off and traveled back to Austin to where Bayley lived, the younger woman feeling slightly more comfortable in her own home, though she was still just a shell of who they once knew.

"Hey pretty girl," whispered Charlotte, offering Bayley a gentle smile, one which was shyly returned.

"Come here, love. Let me brush your hair," offered Charlotte, Bayley rolling her eyes at the gesture. "I can brush my own hair, Char."

Charlotte smiled. "I know, but when I was younger my mom used to brush my hair when I was upset. It always helped," she said, Bayley shrugging as she glanced down at the hairbrush, hesitantly handing it over to Charlotte.

Charlotte motioned for Bayley to sit in front of her, gently pulling her hair back, running the brush gently through it.

"I swear you are the luckiest out of all of us, never having to worry about dying your hair or adding extensions."

Bayley shrugged, glancing down at her fingertips. "You haven't talked much since we got here, baby girl. What's on your mind?" asked Charlotte.

"I just don't know what to say, I guess."

Charlotte nodding, continuing to work on her hair, occasionally using her hand to sweep it back. Bayley smiled at the comfort, turning towards Charlotte as she finished, leaning in to her friend's comforting embrace. Charlotte wrapped her arms around her friend, placing a kiss to her hair, watching as her friend's eyes began to close.

It had been two weeks since she'd passed out at the arena after confiding in Stephanie and Hunter; two weeks since they'd left the road completely and come back to Austin to live temporarily with Bayley while she continued to recover. She had found a new therapist in town to go to, and was seeing her regularly. She had made some progress; eating, albeit not a lot, but still eating, on her own, and though she was still very clingy to the girls, she was okay being in rooms on her own a little more. But she still was not sleeping through the night, and she still woke up from nightmares every time she tried to sleep; day or night.

"What would help you to sleep, honey? It's been almost a month since you've slept through the night, darling. I want to help you…." whispered Charlotte, cradling Bayley in her arms, keeping her lips close to her ear as she spoke.

"I just want to stop seeing him in my head," muttered Bayley, Charlotte sighing. Therapy would help. She knew that. It would just take time.

* * *

"You're fired."

Dave Batista looked at Hunter and Stephanie, choking on the water he had just chugged prior to his long time friend saying the two words he had never in his life imagined he would be hearing.

"What the….what the hell are you talking about, Hunter? Is this some kind of sick joke?!" cried Batista, knowing there was absolutely no way in hell he was actually fired. This could not be the reason he was randomly called down to WWE headquarters.

"No. No joke. You are no longer employed with the WWE," replied Hunter calmly, refusing to back down.

"On what grounds?!" demanded Batista, Stephanie shaking her head as she let out an incredulous laugh. "On what grounds," she muttered. "So many grounds that by the time we're through with you, you won't have a ground to stand on," she stated, speaking up for the first time during the conversation. "Firing you is the first and nicest thing that we're doing to you right now."

"What the fuck is going on here?! What are you talking about?!" yelled Dave, daring to step closer to Hunter, Hunter unafraid to meet his gaze.

"I'm talking about the night of SummerSlam, asswipe. After the show. Care to tell me on your own what you did or will I just hear it in the courtroom?"

"What are you talking about, _Paul_," growled Batista, standing toe to toe with his boss and long time friend.

"What did you do to her, Dave? The night after SummerSlam. I assume I don't need to give you her name," said Hunter, refusing to so much as blink in his stare down with Batista.

And Dave just smiled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

And he wanted to know how Hunter even knew about that night, about _her. _About what he had _accomplished _that night.

But he did know. And it didn't matter one way or the other to Dave that he did, not really.

Stephanie saw his smile and made a beeline for him, only to be stopped by her husband's arm reaching out to stop her.

"You fucking bastard," whispered Hunter, shaking his head, reaching out and swiftly grabbing Batista by the throat, shoving him against the wall. "You raped her! You raped her and you don't even have the _balls _to admit what you did!" he cried, slamming his body hard against the wall.

"Hunter, stop!" cried Stephanie, her husband pausing only for a moment to glance her way. "He's not worth it. You can kill him now, but it wouldn't be worth it. Let the lawyers handle it so his ass can spend the rest of his lifetime in jail."

Hunter shook his head, refusing to release his hold on Batista's neck, turning to face him once more. But Dave continued to smile.

"You fucking prick. I repeat what I said. You're ass is fucking fired. I never want to see you anywhere near this company _or _the superstars we employ ever again. And when I'm through with you, so help me God…" declared Paul, shoving Batista to the ground, kicking him for good measures. "You'll be hearing from our lawyers….and the police."

Dave let out a short fused laugh, shaking his head as he dusted himself off. "And you'll be hearing from mine. You can't prove shit."

* * *

Bayley sighed as she lied in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, opting to not share a room with Sasha tonight. She wanted to sleep. She needed to sleep. She needed to move past that horrible night that had happened a month ago. Four weeks. It had been four weeks since he had _raped _her.

The word still made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it.

She let out another deep sigh, rolling on her side and staring at the bottle of Tylenol PM she'd pulled from the bathroom. _Anything to help, at this point_, she thought. Three weeks of therapy had helped in certain aspects, but sleeping was not one of them, and so she was turning to the next best aid; medication.

She hated to turn to it, but she needed to sleep. She wasn't sure how much longer she could run on the little cat naps she managed to grab before undoubtedly being woken up by a nightmare. And in truth, Tylenol wasn't going to stop the nightmares either. But maybe it would help her sleep through them….

She just wanted to sleep. She didn't care anymore how she found it. She wanted to sleep. She wanted to go back to being normal. She wanted her friends to not have a reason to worry any longer. She wanted to go back to the person she was before _that night. _

And so she downed the recommended two tablespoons of the Tylenol, lying back down on her bed. She was going to sleep through the night. She was going to get all the rest she needed. This needed to work. She needed it to work. Charlotte and Becky and Sasha needed it to work. If she could just sleep through the night, if she could just wake up feeling rested for once, maybe that would take the rest of the edge off and she could start healing….

Maybe.


	16. Chapter 16

2 weeks Later:

Sasha grimaced as she watched Bayley continue to be sick, her head leaning over the toilet bowl as what little she put into her body seemingly came back up. Sasha continued to hold her hair back, rubbing circles on her back.

Bayley moaned and whimpered, flushing the toilet before leaning her head against the toilet seat. Sasha gently eased her friend's limp body against her, placing a cool cloth against her forehead.

"What's going on, honey? This is the third day in a row you've been getting sick…." whispered Sasha, placing a gentle kiss to her friend's hair.

"I don't know. I'm not running a fever. I don't feel sick. I've just been randomly feeling nauseous lately," whispered Bayley, closing her eyes.

She felt like she couldn't catch a break. She was finally, slowly, starting to get her life back. It had been six weeks since that night that she'd been _raped. _It had been six weeks since she'd wrestled. It had six weeks of living out a constant nightmare. And things were slowly starting to go back to normal again….

She was eating again. She was sleeping on her own most nights, only occasionally still waking up from nightmares of that night. She was leaving the house more, smiling a little more….the therapy that she'd been going to regularly was working and helping. Her friends were helping….everything was slowly falling back into place….

And now she was throwing up every single day for no reason at all.

Just as she had started to begin thinking about the possibility of trying to go back to work….

The knock on the bathroom door snapped Bayley out of her thoughts, lifting her head just enough to see Charlotte standing at the doorway.

"Hey, hun. What's going on? You sick again?" asked Charlotte, walking in and kneeling down next to Sasha and Bayley. Bayley shrugged, letting out a deep breath. "I'm okay now," she muttered, lifting herself up from Sasha's arms. "I think I'm gonna go lay down for a few minutes. I'm kind of tired," she whispered, Charlotte rubbing her arm as she exited the bathroom.

Sasha sighed, lifting herself up as well before sharing a glance with Charlotte, heading out the door and into the living room. Charlotte followed closely behind.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Charlotte, allowing herself to fall onto the couch.

"No."

"Sasha…."

"No. No. No. I'm not thinking that. I'm not. She's not. End of story," said Sasha, as if simply saying it would will it into existence.

"It's a possibility."

Sasha groaned loudly, slamming her fist into one of the pillows lying innocently on the couch. "NO! It is _not_ a possibility!" she yelled, lowering her voice as she realized that Bayley could probably hear her. "It is not a possibility. I refuse to believe that that bastard did even more to her. He already fucking took everything she had! There is no way he fucking impregnated her too!"

And Charlotte frowned when she noticed the tears glistening in Sasha's eyes as she finished, the way her voice had started to hitch at the mere mention of the word. And she wondered if Bayley was wondering about the possibility as well, if it had even crossed her mind yet….

"Hey, it's okay. She might not be. Maybe it's just a bug or something. But…..it is a possibility….throwing up, no fever, it's coincidently been 6 weeks, which is normally the time when-

"Don't even say it," muttered Sasha, throwing herself back against the couch. As if Bayley hadn't already been through enough. As if being _raped _wasn't enough. Now she was facing the possibility of being pregnant with her rapist's child?!

Charlotte let out a deep sigh, sitting down next to Sasha. "Do you think she's thought about it?"

"No. No way it's crossed her mind….yet," whispered Sasha, rubbing her hand over her face, fatigue suddenly setting in as she continued to think about the horrendous possibility.

"Should we tell her?"

"Do we have to?"

* * *

"We got a letter from Dave's lawyer. We need to get our lawyers on board with why we fired him."

Hunter snorted, putting his feet up on his desk as Stephanie approached, reaching over and taking the letter from her hand. "If they want to continue being our lawyer, then we won't need to "get them on board." They'll just understand."  
Stephanie shrugged. "True. But, Dave did have a good point. We don't have any proof of what he did. I talked to Bayley last week. She never went to the hospital, never got a rape kit. We have no evidence saying that he raped her that night."

"Steph, you can't be serious. Are you saying we acted impulsively?!" cried Hunter, frowning at even the thought.

"No. We know he did it. I believe Bayley 110 percent. No doubt in my mind. But we fired him for something we have no proof over. I'm thinking about this from a legal standpoint. We just need something if he decides to contest being fired."

"So you're saying we need Bayley," said Hunter softly, sadness filling his heart as he thought about the younger woman. She had been through so much. Both he and Steph had spoken to her last week. She had called them, given them an update, even discussed the possibility of coming back sometime in the near future….she had come a long way from that terrified woman in his office only a month ago…. But he doubted she was ready to face her rapist in court. Who could ever be ready for that?

"Well, it hasn't happened yet. The letter is just asking for a justification right now. Nothing's being contested. I'm just saying….if it does get to that…."

Her voice drifted off, both she and her husband knowing exactly what would happen if that ended up being the case. They would have to go to court. And more likely than not, Bayley would have to testify.

Something neither of them wanted to put her through.

* * *

"Becca?"

Bayley's voice was quiet as she entered her friend's room, Becky looking up from the book she was currently reading. She frowned as she noticed the tears in her friend's eyes.

"Hey, Bay….what's wrong, honey?" whispered Becky, patting the bed for Bayley to come sit next to her, an offer she easily accepted. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Bayley shook her head, looking down at her fidgeting hands. "No…"

It wasn't that late, only about 10pm, but both Charlotte and Sasha were the early to bed, early to rise type while Becky and Bayley had always been night owls. It was how she had known her friend would still be awake.

"What is it, honey? Talk to me," whispered Becky, her fingers reaching out to stroke her friend's cheek, lifting Bayley's gaze to meet her own.

"I….I've just been thinking a lot about…..about how I've been getting sick the last few days and….."

Her voice drifted off, Becky continuing to keep some form of physical contact with her friend, waiting patiently for her to to finish. She knew she'd gotten sick a couple times the last couple days, but she hadn't really thought much about it. She was eating normally now and so Becky just figured it was her body not being used to that amount of food, even if the amount she was eating was the right amount.

"What about it, Baylz? Is it just the anxiety still, or eating again…"

Bayley swallowed hard, shaking her head, tears now falling freely down her face as she tried to hold back a sob, failing miserably as she looked up at her friend, Becky wiping a trail of tears with her thumb.

"Will you come with me, Bex? To like a drug store or something? Tonight?" asked Bayley, trying to keep the panic that was threatening to rise at bay, failing miserably.

Becky frowned at the request, confused. "Bayley, what's going on? Why do you want to go to a drug store right now, baby girl?"

Bayley choked on a sob, whimpering slightly. "For a pregnancy test," she managed, before breaking down completely.


	17. Chapter 17

Becky sighed as she watched Bayley cry into her knees, body shaking as the unopened pregnancy test sat next to her. Her friend had held it together for the most part at the drugstore, and was silent during the car ride back home. But now, in the privacy of her own home, she sat on her bathroom floor sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh, honey…..Bayley, sweetie….." whispered Becky, frowning when her friend flinched away as she reached out to touch her.

Even the possibility of being pregnant was dragging her down to the hole she had just barely climbed out of. And it was killing Becky to watch it happen.

And she wondered if she should wake up Sasha and Charlotte, watching Bayley spiral as bad as she was right now, knowing that sometimes Sasha was better at getting through to her when she was like this….

"Bayley, honey, take a deep breath, okay my love? You gotta try and breathe, honey," whispered Becky, inching closer to her distraught friend, reaching out successfully this time as she placed her hand on her back, rubbing gently.

"Just try and breathe, babygirl. Take a big, deep breath," soothed Becky, Bayley choking on her sobs. "I'm here, honey. I'm right here. You're not alone."

Bayley moaned, trying to breathe. "I-I-I ca-can't d-d-d-do th-th-this!" she cried, still struggling through her breathing, choking again. Becky placed a kiss to her hair, reaching for her phone, not wanting to take her attention off of Bayley, especially when she was still panicking slightly, but knowing Sasha would kill her if she didn't wake her up right now.

_Wake up. Need help! In the downstairs bathroom!_

She quickly sent the text to Sasha, not wanting to overwhelm Bayley with all three of them at the moment, figuring she'd fill Charlotte in later. Becky crawled in front of Bayley, grasping her friend's hands.

"Bayley, look at me, babygirl. Look at me, honey," whispered Becky, using one of her hands to stroke her friend's hair. Bayley shook her head, wrapping her arms tighter around her legs.

"What's going on? What happened?"

Becky looked up, sighing in relief as Sasha entered the bathroom, kneeling down next to Bayley; her eyes immediately drawn to the pregnancy test sitting next to Bayley.

"What the-

Bayley began sobbing even harder at the sound of Sasha's voice, gagging now as she gasped for air. Sasha sprang into action, ignoring the pregnancy test and focusing solely on Bayley, fearful that she'd hyperventilate or make herself sick.

"Bayley, look up, honey. Shh, shh, shh. Come on, baby, come here, sweet girl," whispered Sasha, gently untangling her friend's arms, pulling her into her lap. Sasha held her close, refusing to allow her to fight her way out of the hug.

Sasha adjusted her arms, cradling her friend's head against her shoulder, her other arm rubbing up and down her back. She gently rocked Bayley in her arms, whispering quiet, gentle words, into her ear, hoping she would begin to calm down.

Becky stayed close, offering Bayley the softest of smiles as she turned her head, leaning still against Sasha's shoulder; her breath hitching still as she continued to cry, though not as intensely. Becky reached out, gently wiping a trail of tears from her face, placing a kiss to her forehead.

"Feeling a little better, love?" whispered Becky, Bayley averting her gaze, stealing a glance at the still unopened pregnancy test.

Sasha adjusted her grip, lifting Bayley's gaze to meet her own. "What are you thinking, babygirl? What's running through your head right now, honey?"

Bayley whimpered, swallowing down more tears that were threatening to fall, glancing once more at the test. "I have to take that test. I have to know. I can't...I don't want to, but I have to know," she whispered, her voice weak and hoarse from the earlier crying.

Sasha nodded, placing a kiss to her friend's hair once more, Becky handing the box to Bayley.

"Babe, we're gonna be here, okay? You're not alone, no matter what. We'll be right here," she whispered, Bayley nodding as she turned the box over in her hands, feeling like she was going to be sick as she opened it.

Why was this happening to her? What had she done so horribly wrong that this was happening to her? She'd been getting better! She was finally getting better! And now this….

"Can I be alone? Please? Just...just for a minute," she whispered, Sasha hesitant to leave, but knowing why she wanted to be alone. Becky nodded, pulling herself into a standing position, pulling Bayley up with her.

She lifted her friend's uncertain gaze, tucking her fingers under her chin, wiping away the tears that were once more falling from her friend's brown eyes.

"It's gonna be okay, Bay. You are gonna be okay, no matter what. Understand?" asked Becky, Bayley squeezing her eyes shut, falling into Becky's embrace.

"Thanks, Becca…" she whispered, Becky holding her close once more before letting her go.

"We'll be right outside the door, okay, honey? Just come on out our call for us when you're ready, alright?" asked Sasha, Bayley nodding as she also hugged her.

"Thanks," she whispered, leaning up against the wall, slowly taking the test out of the box as her friends left the room, closing the door behind them.

Bayley let out a shaky breath, reading the directions on the box. Her nerves and anxiety were getting the best of her, but she needed to know. She took another deep breath, following the directions on the box, staring at the stick in her hand after peeing on it. She placed it back down on top of the box, swallowing down the anxiety rising inside of her already. Two minutes. She just had to wait two minutes.

She walked over to the door, not wanting to be alone, fearful that she'd send herself into another panic attack if she waited out the two minutes alone in the bathroom. As soon as she opened it, she threw her arms around Sasha, hot tears once more falling from her eyes and onto her friends shirt.

"Waiting now?" questioned Sasha, Bayley nodding slowly in her friend's arms. Sasha nodded, placing a kiss to her hair, leading her into the living room and settling her down onto the couch, Becky following closely behind.

"What are you thinking about, babygirl?" asked Sasha, Bayley shrugging, her eyes focused on her fidgeting fingers. Becky sat next to her on the couch, brushing her fingers through her hair. "Whatever that test says, Bay, we're gonna help you through it. Promise, love," whispered Becky, Bayley simply nodding; refusing to make eye contact, refusing to speak.

And so she just waited; both Becky and Sasha staying at her side.

As soon as a few moments had passed, Bayley got up from the couch, her stomach doing flip flops inside of her. She was most certainly going to throw up, regardless of what the test read. She made her way back to the bathroom, both Sasha and Becky trailing behind. She glanced up at both of her friends, Sasha tucking a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

"I love you, sister," she whispered, Bayley letting out a shaky breath, wanting so badly to run away and never look back, to run far enough that she was back in time about 6 weeks, hell even 7 weeks...back in time to before that night, before she stayed behind at the arena, before she ran into _him_…..

Sasha and Becky hugged her one more time, and Bayley wasn't sure how she got so lucky as to have friends that were willing to stay up all night just to help her through this, friends that put their own lives on hold for the last six weeks to help her through the entire nightmare….

But she had them, and she was eternally grateful for that.

She turned around, heading towards the counter, inhaling deeply, squeezing her eyes closed for a brief second as she picked up the test in her hands….

And then reopening them, her eyes meeting her fate.

_Pregnant._


End file.
